Introduction to Python

Introduction to Python course aimed at complete beginners.

The purpose of this course is to introduce you to the fundamentals of computer programming and to build your confidence in self-study. For the duration of the course we will be covering general programming concepts and structures which are not exclusive to Python and exist in other programming languages as well.

The course is based on the wonderful Jupyter Notebooks which you can install from here. Alternatively, if you are from the University of Edinburgh you can access the programming environment using Noteable which can be accessed through the accompanying learn course Introdcution to Python. You can self-enrol in the course at take it at your own pace via the self-enrol tab on Learn.

Setting up in Noteable

If you are using Noteable, then the easiest way to get the necessary files in the course is by running the following command in a notebook within Noteable.

!git clone https://git.ecdf.ed.ac.uk/digital_skills/python-intro.git

Structure

Part 0

Short intro to the Python programming language and Jupyter notebooks.

Part 1

Basic programming concepts - variables, types, operations and user interaction.

Part 2

Higher level data structures, if statements, loops, and functions

Further Exercises

A compilation of additional exercises covering the previous material.

Classes

A notebook introducing classes - a slightly more advanced concept useful for software development.

Part 1 and 2 come with exercises in the end.

It is estimated that the notebooks should take a user an average of 4 hours to complete.

Next Steps

The core content is contained in Notebooks 0, 1 and 2. The further exercises and material on classes are a great next step.

There is a follow-on course, also created by the Digital Skills team, which introduces the tools needed to do data science using Python. It is called Python for Data Science and runs in a similar format to this course. You can find it on event-booking: and the course materials are available through a self-enrol LEARN course, also listed under Self Enrol > IS Skills Courses.

Finally dont forget that Lynda has a wealth of resources - here's a playlist with some follow-on courses which overap with and extend the material of this course.