How to work through these tutorials

How should a new coder approach these tutorials?

Tech Requirements

If at any time you have issues installing anything, don’t hesitate to contact me.

  • Python 2.x
    • Mac OS X and Linux often ship with Python installed. To check, open up a terminal, type python --version, and if you get an error message, or if your version is older than 2.7, go ahead and install or update.
    • Windows does not automatically come with Python installed, and must be downloaded from the website.
  • A text editor. Some options include:
  • git installed
  • Optional but suggested: a GitHub or BitBucket account to upload, display, and share your code.

Knowledge Requirements

  • Have worked through something like Learn Python the Hard Way, Dive into Python, Codecademy or others that teach syntax. No need to complete any/all of these introductory resources, but the tutorials will not walk you through the basics of Python syntax.
  • Want to continue to learn Python and/or learn to code.

Haven’t worked through any of the above resources? It’s okay – feel free to do these tutorials as well, but have patience for yourself and don’t be shy on using Google or referring to those resources for syntax help.

Purpose of these tutorials

Each tutorial is meant to be worked through in the order presented, but can be skipped if not challenging enough:

  • Data Visualization
  • APIs
  • Web Scraping
  • Networks
  • GUI

Each tutorial can stand on its own, but gently advances in development topics that a new coder may not be exposed to when trying to learn on his/her own. It‘s okay to get bored, frustrated, distracted, etc. Life happens. The tutorials will still be here for when you return – just be sure to save your progress.

Code for these tutorials may not be the most Pythonic — it’s meant to teach.