Programming · Beginner

Python From Zero

Eleven free lessons from four channels, sequenced into one path from first line to writing your own programs.

Lessons
21 lessons
Total runtime
39 hours of video
Modules
6 modules
Optional lessons
10 optional
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About this course

Python is a good first language because you can read it before you can write it, and because the same skills carry into web backends, data work, automation and everyday scripting. This course sequences eleven pieces of free instruction from four channels into a single path, from installing Python to writing classes and finishing small projects of your own.

The early part of the path is deliberately redundant. Lessons 1 and 2 cover the same ground from different teachers — watch whichever pace suits you, then skim the other at speed. Beginners usually stall on syntax they only half-learned, and a second pass from a different angle is much cheaper than being stuck two months later.

The middle is where most people quit. Object-oriented Python is six short videos from one series, kept as separate lessons so that finishing each one is a small win instead of a two-hour commitment. If you get no further than the end of that module, you will still be able to read most real Python code without confusion.

Expect around 29 hours of required video, and about 39 if you take the optional lessons as well. Plan on two or three times that in total, because the part that actually teaches you is typing the code out yourself rather than watching someone else do it.

What you'll be able to do

  • Read and write idiomatic Python: functions, comprehensions, exceptions and modules
  • Model a problem with classes, inheritance and properties instead of loose dictionaries
  • Know what dunder methods do and when it is worth writing one
  • Work with files, JSON and the standard library without reaching for a tutorial
  • Finish three or four small programs that you wrote yourself

Curriculum

21 lessons · 39 hours

Foundations

2 lessons · 10h 42m

  1. 01CompletedPython Tutorial for BeginnersProgramming with MoshVideoA six-hour pass over the whole language, delivered slowly and clearly. Start here if you have never programmed before.6h 12m
  2. 02CompletedLearn Python — Full Course for BeginnersfreeCodeCamp.orgVideoThe same ground as lesson 1, taught differently. Watch it at speed as a second pass — whatever felt shaky the first time usually lands here.4h 30m

Core Language

1 lesson · 9h

  1. 03CompletedPython Programming Beginner TutorialsCorey SchaferPlaylistA long series that works through the language piece by piece, including the standard-library corners the full-course videos skip. Treat it as reference you work through, not a single sitting.9h

Object-Oriented Python

6 lessons · 1h 32m

  1. 04CompletedOOP 1 — Classes and InstancesCorey SchaferVideoWhere objects begin: what a class is, what an instance is, and why every method starts with self.15m
  2. 05CompletedOOP 2 — Class VariablesCorey SchaferVideoThe difference between data owned by the class and data owned by an instance. Skipping this one causes confusing bugs later.12m
  3. 06CompletedOOP 3 — classmethods and staticmethodsCorey SchaferVideoTwo decorators that change what a method receives. Their most common real use is alternative constructors.15m
  4. 07CompletedOOP 4 — InheritanceCorey SchaferVideoBuilding specialised classes on top of general ones, and what super() is actually doing when you call it.20m
  5. 08CompletedOOP 5 — Magic / Dunder MethodsCorey SchaferVideoHow __repr__, __str__ and their relatives let your own classes work with built-in operators and functions.20m
  6. 09CompletedOOP 6 — Property DecoratorsCorey SchaferVideoGetters and setters the Python way: attributes that quietly run code when you read or assign them.10m

Tooling and Idioms

6 lessons · 2h 22m

  1. 10CompletedPython Virtual Environments and pipOptionalDave GrayVideoThe first thing that breaks on a real project is dependencies. Half an hour on virtual environments and pip now saves a week of confusing import errors later, and it is the single most-skipped topic in beginner Python courses.31m
  2. 11CompletedDecorators — Dynamically Alter Your FunctionsOptionalCorey SchaferVideoThe @ symbols you have been copying without understanding. Decorators are ordinary functions once someone builds one up in front of you, and after this every web framework's syntax stops looking like magic.30m
  3. 12CompletedGenerators — How to Use Them and WhyOptionalCorey SchaferVideoEleven minutes, and the difference between a program that reads a million-row file and one that runs out of memory trying.11m
  4. 13CompletedPython Decorators — The Complete GuideOptionalArjanCodesVideoThe fuller treatment, including decorators that take arguments and class decorators. Take it once you can write a simple one and want to read anybody's.28m
  5. 14CompletedPython Generators — Visually ExplainedOptionalVisually ExplainedVideoThe same idea drawn rather than coded. Useful if lazy evaluation is still an abstraction rather than a picture.15m
  6. 15Completeduv — A Faster, All-in-One Package ManagerOptionalCorey SchaferVideoThe tool much of the Python community has moved to, replacing pip and venv with one faster thing. Learn the standard tools first, then this.27m

Automating Things

4 lessons · 7h 23m

  1. 16CompletedAutomate with Python — Full Course for BeginnersOptionalfreeCodeCamp.orgVideoFiles, spreadsheets, email and the web — small scripts that remove real chores. This is the point where Python stops being a subject and starts being useful, and it is worth reaching quickly.2h 43m
  2. 17Completed3 Python Automation Projects for BeginnersOptionalTech With TimVideoThree finished scripts in under an hour. Short enough to type along with rather than watch, which is the whole difference.53m
  3. 18CompletedPython Selenium — Automate Websites and Create BotsOptionalTech With TimVideoDriving a real browser from code. Genuinely useful for anything without an API, and a good demonstration of how far a small script can reach.37m
  4. 19CompletedPython Automation Tutorial — Full CourseOptionalfreeCodeCamp.orgVideoA second, longer pass over the same territory with different tools. Take it if the first automation course left you wanting more examples rather than more explanation.3h 10m

Building & Beyond

2 lessons · 8h

  1. 20CompletedPython Projects for BeginnersBro CodeVideoSeveral small programs built end to end. Type them out rather than watching — this is the first point where you write code without being told every line.2h
  2. 21CompletedIntermediate Python ProgrammingfreeCodeCamp.orgVideoGenerators, decorators, context managers, threading — the parts of the language you keep meeting in other people's code. Take it once you have written something of your own.6h

Credits

Every lesson in this course was made by one of these channels. Tubeversity sequenced them; it did not make them. If a course is useful to you, the people below are the ones who earned it.