<p>The Python community is amazing at sharing detailed resources and helping
beginners learn to program with the language. There are so many resources
out there though that it can be difficult to know how to find them. </p>
<p>This page aggregates the best general Python resources with descriptions of
what they provide to readers.</p>
<divclass="well see-also">If you prefer to learn by watching videos check out the <ahref="/best-python-videos.html">best Python videos</a>. You may also be interested in reading about <ahref="/development-environments.html">development environments</a> to use for coding.</div>
<h2>New to programming</h2>
<p>If you're learning your first programming language these books were written
with you in mind. Developers learning Python as a second or later language
should skip down to the next section for "experienced developers".</p>
<ul>
<li>
<p>To get an introduction to Python, Django and Flask at the same time,
explains why it's better to think of projects you'd like to build and
problems you want to solve with programming. Start working on those projects
and problems rather than jumping into a specific language that's recommended
to you by a friend.</p>
</li>
<li>
<p><ahref="http://www.cs.hmc.edu/csforall/">CS for All</a> is an open book by professors
at Harvey Mudd College which teaches the fundamentals of computer science
using Python. It's an accessible read and perfect for programming beginners.</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>If you've never programmed before check out the
<ahref="http://learntocodewith.me/getting-started/">Getting Started</a> page on
<ahref="http://learntocodewith.me/">Learn To Code with Me</a>
by <ahref="https://twitter.com/lebdev">Laurence Bradford</a>. She's done an
incredible job of breaking down the steps beginners should take when
they're uncertain about where to begin.</p>
</li>
<li>
<p><ahref="http://learnpythonthehardway.org/book/">Learn Python the Hard Way</a> is a
free book by Zed Shaw.</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>The <ahref="https://www.twilio.com/blog/tag/python">Python projects tag</a> on the
Twilio blog is constantly updated with fun tutorials you can build to
learn Python, such as the
<ahref="https://www.twilio.com/blog/2015/11/international-space-station-notifications-with-python-redis-queue-and-twilio-copilot.html">International Space Station Tracker with Flask and Redis-Queue</a>,
<ahref="https://www.twilio.com/blog/2014/11/choose-your-own-adventure-presentations-with-reveal-js-python-and-websockets.html">Choose Your Own Adventures Presentations using Flask and WebSockets</a>
and <ahref="https://www.twilio.com/blog/2015/11/getting-started-with-opencv-and-python-featuring-the-martian-2.html">Martianify Photos with OpenCV</a>.</p>
</li>
<li>
<p><ahref="http://www.diveinto.org/python3/">Dive into Python 3</a> is an open source
book provided under the Creative Commons license and available in HTML or
PDF form.</p>
</li>
<li>
<p><ahref="http://www.swaroopch.com/notes/python/">A Byte of Python</a> is a beginner's
tutorial for the Python language. </p>
</li>
<li>
<p>Code Academy has a <ahref="http://www.codecademy.com/tracks/python">Python track</a>
for people completely new to programming.</p>
</li>
<li>
<p><ahref="http://opentechschool.github.io/python-beginners/en/index.html">Introduction to Programming with Python</a>
goes over the basic syntax and control structures in Python. The free book
has numerous code examples to go along with each topic.</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>Google put together a great compilation of materials and subjects you
Those resources are useful not only for Python beginners but any developer
who wants to have a strong professional career in software.</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>The O'Reilly book
<ahref="http://greenteapress.com/thinkpython/html/index.html">Think Python: How to Think Like a Computer Scientist</a>
is available in HTML form for free on the web.</p>
</li>
<li>
<p><ahref="http://anandology.com/python-practice-book/index.html">Python Practice Book</a>
is a book of Python exercises to help you learn the basic language syntax.</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>Looking for ideas about what projects to use to learn to code? Check out
<ahref="https://medium.com/learning-journalism-tech/five-mini-programming-projects-for-the-python-beginner-21492f6ce0f3">this list of 5 programming project for Python beginners</a>.</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>There's a Udacity course by one of the creators of Reddit that shows how to
<ahref="https://www.udacity.com/course/web-development--cs253">use Python to build a blog</a>.
It's a great introduction to web development concepts through coding.</p>
<pstyle="font-size: .8em;">If you want to learn Python then
I highly recommend
<ahref="https://realpython.com/?utm_source=fsp&utm_medium=promo&utm_campaign=bestresources" onclick="trackOutboundLink('https://realpython.com/?utm_source=fsp&utm_medium=promo&utm_campaign=bestresources'); return false;">checking out Real Python</a>'s
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<divclass="container">
<pclass="banner"><ahref="https://www.gumroad.com/l/python-deployments" style="color: #fff">Learning web development? Check out The Full Stack Python Guide to Deployments book</a>!</p>