Different Ways to Practice Python

Learning Python means practicing Python. In this article, we’ll explore some of the most popular ways to practice your Python programming skills.

Learning almost any new skill requires not only gaining knowledge but experience. And this is what we acquire through practice.

This article will help anyone who has recently started learning Python or who already knows the basics of Python but cannot progress to the next level. Here are the best ways to practice Python.

What Is Python?

Python is a general-purpose programming language which means it is used for a wide range of domains and applications, unlike domain-specific languages that are designed for a specific task or application (i.e. SQL for databases).

A large variety software and systems are written in Python. In the popular fields of Artificial Intelligence and machine learning, Python provides many libraries and frameworks to facilitate the implementation of complex and accurate models. (Psst… ChatGPT is written in Python!)

Another very important domain is web development. Huge companies like Instagram use Django, a popular Python framework. Python is also used for data analytics, game development, and financial predictive models, among other applications.

If you want to start learning Python online, I highly recommend you take a look at our Python Basics mini-track. It will give your Python journey a solid start. At the time of writing this article, the first part, Python Basics: Part 1, is completely free. It has 95 interactive Python exercises for beginners. This is the best opportunity to learn if coding is for you without risking anything.

But let’s remember that Python was initially a scripting language, and is still used as one. A notable advantage of running a Python script on a server is that you can use command lines, without needing to compile or restart anything. This allows the creation of light and fast automation tasks. You can, for example, run a daily script that will send an email with a special discount to your online store’s inactive customers.

And let’s also remember something very important: every digital product needs to be tested before being launched! Python provides fantastic testing libraries like Unittest, Pytest, or django.test, which allow the easy creation of every type of test case (unit or integration tests, for example).

Why Learn Python?

Python is a perfect fit for a first programming language. If you are completely unfamiliar with Python or only just getting started with computer programming, don’t worry! The Python language is very intuitive, and the learning curve for beginners is relatively small. What makes it so user-friendly?

One word: syntax. Python has a simple and straightforward syntax that makes it easy for developers to read and write code. The language is designed to be readable and close to human language, making it accessible to those who are new to programming. Since Python focuses on syntax readability, it does not let you write messy code. It induces you to produce clean code with consistent indentation.

Python also has a huge and engaged community of developers who contribute to the development of the language and its libraries. You can find the work of this enthusiastic community on PyPi, the official repository for Python; there are almost 500,000 projects. That’s massive! The community contributes to the growth of Python, but it is also very welcoming to newcomers. If you struggle with Python code, you will probably find a workaround to your problem on websites like Stack Overflow or GitHub.

There is another motivation to start learning Python: It is trendy! New and veteran developers are expressing interest in using Python, according to a Stack Overflow’s survey. This interest is shared by companies, which are hiring more Python developers each year (and paying them well). ZipRecruiter indicates that a US-based Python developer earns an average of $111,601 a year. Sounds good!

Different Ways to Practice Python

Now that we’ve got the motivation to learn Python going strong, let’s talk about how to practice Python. Until you get your hands dirty writing actual code, you can’t really say you know Python. So, let’s take a look at some of the ways people practice programming in Python.

Reading a Book

First up is the old-school way: reading a book. You can choose a book that is appropriate for your current skill level; if you are a beginner, look for a book that covers the basics of the language. Then, you can practice what you have learned by writing your own code and experimenting with different concepts.

However, this option lacks interactivity and structure. And it can be hard to find good practice exercises. Your book may also be out of date: Python is constantly evolving and updating, and your book may not cover the most recent version. Furthermore, if you get stuck, there’s no built-in support. You will have to seek help online, making the whole process uncomfortable. You will lose time switching between the online help, the book, and your development environment.

Many learners choose to practice their Python in another way and use a book to grow their understanding of theory. If this sounds like you, check out these articles:

• The Best Python Books
• The Best Python Books for Data Science
• 4 Best Python IDE and Code Editors

Watching Videos

The second and more modern way is learning Python by watching videos. There are plenty of resources for Python beginners on YouTube and other streaming platforms. You could easily find a channel that fits your needs as a beginner, and this may be awesome for the theoretical part.

But let’s be honest; most of the videos are unnecessarily long. Many hosts tend to talk a lot, sometimes for monetizing reasons (the longer the video, the more ads you can place in it). This can be boring and discouraging. Furthermore, many videos are not professional and can contain unreliable information.

Now, let’s talk about the practice. As with a book, you can keep up with the video and write code in your IDE (integrated development environment). Again, this switching back and forth is uncomfortable, and you’ll lose time.

Interactive Python Courses

The greatest option to learn and practice Python online is undoubtedly with interactive courses. Online courses provide a comfortable way to acquire knowledge and the opportunity to practice what you have learned immediately. Practicing writing Python code in a real programming environment will allow you to gain experience and consolidate your Python skills very quickly. According to Malcolm Gladwell, you will need a lot of practice to become a Python expert: around 10,000 hours! So it’s better to begin to practice with adequate methods and resources. 

LearnPython.com’s interactive courses combine learning and practicing. In each course module, the explanation and the exercise are on the left part of the browser, while the code editor and the console are on the right part.

In this way, you will put the lesson into practice immediately after reading it, and you won’t lose time switching between multiple platforms. Furthermore, LearnPython integrates a real Python compiler, so you can try everything you want in the code editor; it will provide a real result in the console.

An example of an interactive exercise on LearnPython.com

Best of all is that you don’t need to install anything on your computer; you just need a web browser!

Python Projects

When you get your first Python job, you will probably work on a project developed by other people, and it can be kind of perturbing: you have to read documentation, carefully read each block of code and understand it, and perform tests at the end. If you already have basic knowledge of Python, I would suggest you build your own Python programming projects. You can find some on FreeCodeCamp.com or  GitHub. 

The books Automate the Boring Stuff with Python and The Big Book of Small Python Projects also contain projects you can do.

The Best Courses to Practice Python

Here are some LearnPython.com courses specifically designed to help you practice and gain confidence in your skills:

Python Basics: Part 1

This course is completely free (at the time of writing) and could be the best first step to Python mastery. This awesome course is designed for total beginners; you don’t need any previous programming experience nor theoretical knowledge to start. The course provides 95 exercises (yes, 95 free interactive exercises!) which will allow you to gain Python programming skills in a very friendly way, with easy-to-understand explanations and practical examples. The course also contains a recap at the end of each section and a quiz to strengthen your knowledge. It’s interactive and free, so why not give it a try?

If you liked the course, you could go further by taking Python Basics: Part 2 and Python Basics: Part 3.

Python Basics: Practice

If you have already taken the Python Basics courses, you now have basic Python knowledge; let’s continue with the practice! This course focuses on the practice part.

In this course, you can practice your essential coding skills: declaring and using variables, structuring a conditional flow with if..else statements, and writing all types of loops (for, foreach, while, etc. ). You also will be asked to work with functions and text files (open, get content, and close). The exercises are clearly stated, and there are no trick questions. However, if you struggle, the course creators will help you.

Python Practice: Word Games

What about practicing Python in a fun way? If you like the idea, this course is a perfect fit for you. This course contains three thematic sections that focus on working with strings (pieces of text). You will be asked to analyze texts and implement functions related to popular culture: coding and decoding mechanisms like in Da Vinci Code, analyzing the text of the Sherlock Holmes novel The Hound of the Baskervilles, or implementing functions for a Scrabble-type game. Sounds exciting, doesn’t it?

If you want to discover more practice courses, I highly recommend you read the article Top 7 Online Courses for Python Practice in 2023 by Soner Yildirim.

Find Your Way to Practice Python Today!

I hope this article encouraged you to practice Python. There are lots of options available, including LearnPython.com.

If you want to learn Python but don’t know where to start, I strongly recommend our Learn Programming with Python track: it introduces you to the fundamentals of programming with Python.

So, what are you waiting for? Practice Python today!