Learn Python

A complete introductory Python course by Scrimba: short video lessons of four to eight minutes alternating with interactive coding challenges right in the browser. The course covers the language from variables, data types and strings through lists, tuples, sets and dictionaries to functions, control flow, OOP, exceptions, lambdas and comprehensions, practising every topic on a small exercise. The instructor is Olof Paulson, with a background in finance, portfolio management and algorithmic trading.

Contents & competencies

• Python syntax and program flow: print statements, variables, data types and typecasting, user input, arithmetic operations
• Strings: slicing, searching and replacing, string formatting
• Data structures: lists including split and join, tuples, sets and dictionaries — each with exercises
• Functions: calls, parameters and arguments, default values, named notation, return statements
• Control flow: booleans and comparisons, if/else/elif, while and for loops as well as nested loops
• Advanced topics: classes and objects (OOP), inheritance, exceptions with try/except/raise, lambda functions, list and dict comprehensions, file handling
• Tools and performance: enumerate, sort() and sorted(), zip and unzip, randomness, timing runs with timeit
• Putting it into practice in challenges and small projects — from a coffee order queue and phone number normaliser to a crypto machine, math tutor and Project Euler Q4

Syllabus

Contents grouped by topic rather than by the course's own chapter numbering; the certificate states 62 lessons.

Topics