An introductory Python programming course from Udacity that teaches programming basics while students build a simple search engine. It is the Udacity intro CS course, offered in archived and current versions.

Commenters repeatedly recommend it as an excellent, fun, free entry point to Python for beginners, with one saying it is worth the shot and another calling it better than Codecademy.

On Reddit (7)

1. Strongly recommendsMarkstar/learnprogramming2014in “Hey guys, new to this subreddit and to programming! I want to eventually use "Learn Python the Hard Way" but how effective is learning python on Codecademy?”▲ 1

   Please don't. It's terrible. Use https://www.udacity.com, they have an intro course done in Python that is excellent. It's free, just it pushes live coaching on you at the enroll button. Just select the free option, it has all the material.

2. Strongly recommendsxsgt_infernoxr/learnprogramming2012in “Help making a simple Ubuntu program”▲ 2

   I would highly recommend the Udacity CS101 class. It teaches you python while building a search engine. If you already know how to program, you will breeze through the course in a week and have a good grasp on Python basics. Then you can move on to a more advanced course.

3. RecommendsChmHsmr/learnprogramming2017in “What language should I learn to develop consumer solutions?”

   Python is good if you're a beginner and need efficient mathematical libraries when you're doing math-related programming. That's why the top math (mainly calculus/statistics/probabilities) libraries are implemented in python, proof examples: numpy, scipy and machine/deep learning libraries such as…

4. RecommendsCodeTinkererr/learnprogramming2014in “How much would I accomplish in a year?”▲ 1

   Also think about writing the goals of things you want to do. Having some goals (written) can make it easier to keep going. When you have no goals (other than "learn to program"), it can be hard to push on. One way is to look at the chapters of a book, and use that to make progress. You might try…

5. Recommendsjtsuitedr/learnprogramming2014in “EdX Computer Science”▲ 1

   If you don't feel like you're making much progress with C++, it's probably a good idea to try something new. C++ is a very complex language - it'll be easier to learn the basics on a simpler language and come back to C++ later. CS50 is an excellent class with a lot of resources - full lectures…

6. RecommendsProblemHatersr/learnprogramming2013in “Experience using codecademy.com?”▲ 10

   Try Udacity! I'm taking an intro to CS course there for python, and I'm loving it along with learning a lot. Also, try LPTHW (Learn Python The Hard Way) :)

7. Recommendswumsdir/learnprogramming2013in “The upside to Codeacademy!”▲ 2

   I know Codecademy - and I like it. Of course it is only an introduction, you can't stop there, but anyways - if it gets you through the courses you have learned more than by doing nothing. For a newbie to learn python, I'd recommend Udacity's CS101: It teaches you some important concepts as well…

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