A new video series for beginners to learn Python programming

Probably the largest hurdle when learning any new programming language is simply knowing where to get started. What’s important? What do I need to know to be proficient? It’s hard to follow docs when you’re not even sure what you’re reading.

You might be taking a look at Python. Maybe you’re drawn because of its popularity. Maybe you’re drawn to its flexibility. With Python you can create solutions of all shapes and sizes. You can dig into web development. Simplify your life through automation. Or maybe begin building the future with machine learning.

Picking up a new language is a common situation for modern-day developers. The days of going your entire career focused on one language are long since gone.

Fortunately, concepts typically don’t change as you move from one programming language to the next. Sure, the syntax might be different, but an if statement is still an if statement even when it’s written using { } or End If. So, we don’t need to learn how to program, but rather how to program in a new language.

This is why Susan and I created this series of videos! You might know how to write code, for example in JavaScript, Java or C# (or COBOL, or Bash, or… it doesn’t matter, really). Maybe you learned in a college course, online, or reading a book. So, you don’t need to be taught what an if statement is, but rather what an if statement looks like in Python.

Susan and I thought back to our first learnings with Python, and what we wish someone would have sat down and told us. We looked at various quick starts, such as one on Face API, and asked what someone would need to know to successfully walk through such a tutorial. And then we built a course.

While we won’t cover everything there is to know about Python in the course, we want to make sure we give you the foundation on programming in Python, starting from common everyday code and scenarios. At the end of the course, you’ll be able to go and learn on your own, following along docs, tutorials, books, etc. We promise we’re keeping things quick and to the point, so you can dive straight into the areas that you’re most interest in (or confused by!).

We hope you’ll join us! And you can always find Susan and me on Twitter at @hockeygeekgirl and @geektrainer.

Christopher Harrison

Senior Program Manager, Microsoft

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