Nikolai V.
Sample The project made it stick
Building the budget tracker myself was when everything finally connected.
Python from zero: write your first real programs
A free, patient introduction to programming with Python: variables, decisions, loops, functions, files and a small project of your own
Created by Arjun Mehta
- Updated September 2026
- English
- Beginner
What you will learn
- Install Python and run programs from an editor and a terminal
- Store and change data with variables, strings, numbers, lists and dictionaries
- Control a program with conditions and loops
- Write and reuse your own functions with parameters and return values
- Read and write text and CSV files
- Read error messages and fix common mistakes on your own
Course content
Getting started
Decisions and loops
- Video: Comparisons and if statements 12 min
- Video: Combining conditions 9 min
- Video: Repeating with while loops 10 min
- Video: Repeating with for loops and range 11 min
Collections of data
- Video: Lists: storing many values 13 min
- Video: Dictionaries: looking things up by name 13 min
- Video: Lists of dictionaries 10 min
- Article: Tuples and sets in brief 8 min
Functions
- Video: Defining your own functions 12 min
- Video: Parameters, defaults and keyword arguments 10 min
- Article: Scope and why globals cause trouble 9 min
- Video: Docstrings and small, clear functions 8 min
Files, errors and modules
- Video: Reading and writing text files 12 min
- Video: Working with CSV files 12 min
- Video: Handling errors with try and except 11 min
- Video: Using the standard library 10 min
Your first project: a budget tracker
- Article: Planning the program 8 min
- Video: Building the menu and adding expenses 15 min
- Video: Saving, loading and reports 14 min
- Article: Where to go from here 6 min
- Quiz: Final check 5 min
Requirements
- A computer running Windows, macOS or Linux
- No programming experience needed
Description
This free course is for people who have never programmed, or who tried once and got lost. We use Python because it reads almost like English, it is used everywhere from data analysis to web servers to automation, and it lets you write useful programs after only a few hours.
You will not memorise syntax for its own sake. Each idea is introduced with a short explanation, a tiny example and a task where you use it. By the end of the course you will build a small but complete program of your own: a command line budget tracker that saves its data to a file.
What we cover
- Installing Python and running code in an editor and a terminal
- Values, variables, strings and numbers
- Making decisions with
ifand repeating work with loops - Lists and dictionaries for storing collections of data
- Writing your own functions
- Reading and writing files
- Handling errors without crashing
- Using modules from the standard library
How to learn with this course
Type every example yourself. Change it, break it and see what happens. Programming is learned by doing, and error messages are not failures, they are the computer telling you exactly where to look. We spend a whole lesson on reading them.
When you finish, you will be ready for a course on automation, data analysis or web development, and you will understand what those courses are building on.
Who this course is for
- Complete beginners who want to learn programming
- Students and career changers starting in tech
- Office workers who want to automate tasks later
Instructor
Arjun Mehta
Python developer teaching clean, practical Python for beginners and working engineers
- 4.5 instructor rating
- 23 reviews
- 10,251 students
- 3 courses
- Sample
I write Python every day: automation scripts, small web services and internal tools for teams who need to stop copying data between spreadsheets by hand. I started as a self taught programmer, so I remember exactly which concepts felt confusing at first.
In my courses I explain the idea, show a short example, then give you a task that uses it in a realistic way. I care about readable code, sensible project structure and modern tooling such as uv and Ruff, without making beginners learn everything at once.
I also volunteer as a mentor in beginner coding groups.
Student reviews
Maria G.
Sample Finally I understand programming
I tried two other courses and gave up. The pace here and the lesson on reading errors made the difference.
Thomas E.
Sample Patient and clear
Every concept comes with a tiny example and an exercise. The budget tracker project tied everything together nicely.
Fatou D.
Sample Great for absolute beginners
Exactly what I needed at 45 starting from nothing. Some exercises could have hints, but I worked through them.
Kenta Y.
Sample Error lesson should be everywhere
Learning to read tracebacks from the bottom saved me so much frustration in later courses.
Olga S.
Sample A solid foundation to build on
I moved on to the automation course afterwards and felt well prepared. The files section was especially useful.
Pedro A.
Sample Free and better than paid ones
Clear examples, realistic project, no filler. I recommended it to my whole study group.
Leah R.
Sample Too slow for me
Good course, but I had some prior experience and the first sections felt slow. Great for true beginners though.
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