Python For Beginners – FREE Resources!

This post is for those of you looking for resources about “Python for beginners” and “learning Python for free”! I talk to a lot of Network Security and Cybersecurity managers, practitioners, students and job seekers. Python keeps coming up! In hindsight, it probably come up in 9 out of 10 conversations. Why? Cybersecurity and network managers need Python programming skills on their teams. The practitioners and students know they need this skill on their resume.

Why should you learn Python?

Python is one of the most popular programming languages across a number of IT roles right now. I’m not a developer, therefor I only know what I read and hear. And based on what I’ve read, Python is super flexible, easy to learn/read/use and can be used to automate just about anything. It can run on multiple systems and is a great skill to have if you are trying to stand out in a sea of cyber-seeking job hunters. I share more information about the reasons why practitioners choose to use Python in this post.

Python has proven to be a good tool to have in your technical toolkit. It’s used by IT System Admins, a Security Admins, Penetration Testers, SOC Analysts and Network Administrators.

  • Security Admins use it to create automated testing scripts.
  • Penetration Testers use it to automate simulated attacks.
  • SOC Analysts use it to automate thousands of manual tasks including packet capturing, decoding, forensics and more.
  • Network Admins use Python to automate system administration tasks.
  • IT Systems Admins may find themselves as participants in other IT tasks and the ability to automate tasks can help you get more done.

That said, people in these jobs don’t always have the time or resources to take classes at a local university. And those of you who are students probably already have student loan debts to pay off, and nobody needs additional educational debt. Right? To try to help others avoid taking on additional debt to build this new skill, I have been keeping my eyes peeled for FREE Python training resources. Today, I ran across some free resources that help teach Python for beginners that I wanted to share!

Learn to code for free!

I was checking out well-known web developer Chris Coyier’s CSS-Tricks site. While reviewing his site, I came across a reference he made to freeCodeCamp. His endorsement inspired me to take a closer look and see if they had any free resources that would teach Python for beginners. He said…”freeCodeCamp is free and has a step-by-step process to it where you don’t just watch, there are tasks for you to complete“.

His words really resonated with me. They reflected many of the things Christophe and I value and want for our community members.

  • It’s FREE education, available to anyone who wants to learn!
  • You learn at home, at your convenience, without having to take time away from your day job.
  • You learn by performing specific tasks in using step-by-step instructions.
  • Once developed, you’ll apply those skills to build hands-on projects.
  • As an added bonus, you can earn professional certifications for free. Those credentials open up new career opportunities that may substitute those for a degree.

Did you know freeCodeCamp offers a Python for beginners course?

As luck would have it, there are three free, hands-on Python courses [with projects] available to you on their site. They are…

  • Scientific Computing with Python Certification
  • Data Analysis with Python Certification
  • Machine Learning with Python Certification

For those of us who don’t need ALL of that… there’s an introductory course embedded in the Scientific Computing with Python Certification course. Introduction to Python for Everybody, by Dr. Charles Severance offers a foundational understanding of Python for us all. He is a Clinical Professor at the University of Michigan School of Information, where he teaches various technology-oriented courses including programming, database design, and Web development.

Python for Everybody is a video course [comprised of 56 lessons] that teaches the basics of programming computers using Python 3. After taking this taking this great entry level course, you can reference the python documentation site to see what else is new with Python.

Check it out, and let us know what you think!

Related Articles

Responses

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

  1. I have used freecodecamp numerous times for help with coding. They have some very good content and it’s absolutely free!

    1. Thanks for sharing Eric! As you know, I’ve worked in IT Services for 23 years, but not as “a technologist”. I may have married a Developer, but I’ve never coded a thing. I was always on the business side working hand-in-hand with our Solution Development, Service Delivery and Client teams. So, when I went to freeCodeCamp to check it out, I was thrilled by what I experienced. Even I was able to progress through the step-by-step tutorials successfully…learning hands-on and incrementally along the way. It was exciting, because it made coding feel less overwhelming and scary to learn. I’ll definitely be reaching out to our local school districts to make sure they are using it, as well as sharing it with young people I know who have expressed an interest in learning to code recently. It’s a quick, free, user-friendly way for them to give it a try and go from there!