Easy
Python
Guide
Getting Started
These are the 6 main bits of advice I wish I had been given when starting to learn:
Focus on one language
When learning to program, it’s best to focus on a single language rather than trying to juggle several at once. Different programming languages have their own unique syntax and conventions, which can easily lead to confusion for beginners. By sticking with one language, you can develop a clearer understanding of core programming concepts such as variables, loops, conditionals, functions, and data structures without being distracted by differing rules or formats.
Python is an excellent first language because it’s readable, widely used, and well-supported. More importantly, the skills you gain while learning Python – like problem-solving, logical thinking, and algorithmic design – are easily transferrable to other languages such as JavaScript, Java, or C++. Once you’re confident with the fundamentals in one language, picking up others becomes much easier, as the underlying principles remain largely the same. Learning these principles is more important than learning the syntax.
Build projects
While understanding theory is important, you’ll learn much faster by building your own projects. Practical work gives context to the concepts you’re studying and shows you how they apply in real-world scenarios. Writing code to solve problems, even small ones, helps reinforce your knowledge and highlights gaps you might not notice through passive learning alone. It also builds your confidence and problem-solving skills in a way that reading or watching tutorials can’t match.
Projects don’t have to be large or complex — even simple tools like a calculator, a quiz, or a to-do list app can teach you a great deal. You’ll make mistakes, hit errors, and work through them — which is where real learning happens. By creating something tangible, you stay motivated and gain a stronger, more lasting understanding of how programming works in practice.
Make it exist first. Make it good later
One of the best things you can do as a programming student is to get your project up and running, even if it’s far from perfect. It’s easy to fall into the trap of trying to make everything flawless from the start, but this often leads to frustration or never finishing at all. Getting a basic version working — even if it’s messy or incomplete — gives you something real to improve upon. You’ll learn far more by seeing your code in action and refining it over time than by endlessly planning or polishing before you’ve built anything.
Starting simple and iterating lets you break down complex ideas into manageable steps. It also gives you a sense of achievement early on, which helps you stay motivated. You’ll find that the process of tweaking and improving your work naturally deepens your understanding, and often sparks ideas for new features or better approaches. Done is better than perfect — especially when you’re still learning.
Consistency is important
Learning to programme is much more effective when done regularly in short, focused sessions rather than in occasional long bursts. Even just 20–30 minutes a day can make a big difference, as it helps keep concepts fresh in your mind and builds steady progress over time. Regular practice reinforces memory, develops good habits, and reduces the time you spend having to re-learn things you’ve forgotten between gaps.
Irregular, intensive study sessions can feel productive in the moment, but they often lead to burnout or frustration, especially if you're trying to cover too much at once. Consistency is key when learning any new skill — it helps you build momentum and stay connected to what you’re learning. By making programming a daily habit, you’ll gradually become more comfortable with it, and it will start to feel more natural and intuitive over time.
Read other people's code
Reading other people’s code, especially from sites like GitHub, is a powerful way to accelerate your learning. It gives you insight into how more experienced developers structure their programs, solve problems, and write clean, efficient code. You’ll start to notice common patterns, naming conventions, and ways of organising logic that you might not have thought of on your own.
It also helps you become more comfortable with real-world code, which is often messier and more complex than the examples found in tutorials. By exploring open-source projects, you can see how different components fit together and learn how to navigate larger codebases. Over time, this exposure will improve your ability to read, understand, and eventually write better code yourself.
Don't use AI to write your code
AI is becoming an increasingly bigger part of the IT world. ChatGPT, Claude and others can be helpful tools in helping code but you don't want to become reliant on them. If you've used AI to write all of your code, firstly, it is likely to contain bugs, and secondly finding those bugs and fixing them will be that much harder when you've not written and understood the code yourself.
It can be helpful if there is a concept you don't fully understand, if you can't think of the best way to structure a certain bit of code, or if you're having trouble to spot a bug or syntax error. Use it sparingly and only for guidance. If you use it to write your code for you, it will be unmaintainable and you won't learn anything.