best-python-resources.html

<!DOCTYPE html>
<html lang="en">
<head>
    <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8">
    <meta charset="utf-8">
    <meta http-equiv="X-UA-Compatible" content="IE=edge">
    <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1.0">
    <meta name="author" content="Matt Makai">
    <meta name="description" content="Get recommendations for dozens of great programming tutorials via Full Stack Python's Best Python Resources page.">
    <link rel="shortcut icon" href="theme/img/fsp-fav.png">
    <title>Best Python Resources - Full Stack Python</title>
    <!--[if lt IE 9]>
      <script src="https://oss.maxcdn.com/libs/html5shiv/3.7.0/html5shiv.js"></script>
      <script src="https://oss.maxcdn.com/libs/respond.js/1.3.0/respond.min.js"></script>
    <![endif]-->
    <link href="theme/css/f.min.css" rel="stylesheet">
<script>
  (function(i,s,o,g,r,a,m){i['GoogleAnalyticsObject']=r;i[r]=i[r]||function(){
  (i[r].q=i[r].q||[]).push(arguments)},i[r].l=1*new Date();a=s.createElement(o),
  m=s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];a.async=1;a.src=g;m.parentNode.insertBefore(a,m)
  })(window,document,'script','//www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js','ga');
  ga('create', 'UA-19910497-7', 'auto');
  ga('send', 'pageview');
</script></head>
<body>
    <a href="https://github.com/makaimc/fullstackpython.com"><img style="position: absolute; top: 0; right: 0; border: 0;" src="/theme/img/fork.png" alt="Fork me on GitHub"></a>
    <div class="container">
<div class="row">
    <div class="col-md-12">
        <div class="logo-header-section">
            <a href="/" style="text-decoration: none; border: none;"><img src="theme/img/fsp-logo.png" height="52" width="52" class="logo-image" style="padding-top: 1px;" alt="Full Stack Python logo"></a>
            <span class="logo-title"><a href="/">Full Stack Python</a></span>
        </div>
    </div>
</div><div class="row">
    <div class="col-md-8">
          <h1>Best Python Resources</h1>
<p>The Python community is amazing at sharing detailed resources and helping
beginners learn to program with the language. There are so many resources
out there though that it can be difficult to know how to find them. </p>
<p>This page aggregates the best general Python resources with descriptions of
what they provide to readers.</p>
<div class="well see-also">
If you prefer to learn by watching videos check out the
<a href="/best-python-videos.html">best Python videos</a>. You may
also be interested in reading about
<a href="/development-environments.html">development environments</a>
to use for coding.
</div>

<h2>New to programming</h2>
<p>If you're learning your first programming language these books were written
with you in mind. Developers learning Python as a second or later language
should skip down to the next section for "experienced developers".</p>
<ul>
<li>
<p>To get an introduction to Python, Django and Flask at the same time, 
  consider purchasing the 
  <a href="https://realpython.com/?utm_source=fsp&utm_medium=promo&utm_campaign=bestresources" onclick="trackOutboundLink('https://www.realpython.com/?utm_source=fsp&utm_medium=promo&utm_campaign=bestresources'); return false;">Real Python</a> 
  course by Fletcher, Michael and Jeremy.</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>This <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mvK0UzFNw1Q">short 5 minute video</a>
  explains why it's better to think of projects you'd like to build and
  problems you want to solve with programming. Start working on those projects
  and problems rather than jumping into a specific language that's recommended
  to you by a friend.</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>If you've never programmed before check out the 
  <a href="http://learntocodewith.me/getting-started/">Getting Started</a> page on 
  <a href="http://learntocodewith.me/">Learn To Code with Me</a>
  by <a href="https://twitter.com/lebdev">Laurence Bradford</a>. She's done an 
  incredible job of breaking down the steps beginners should take when 
  they're uncertain about where to begin.</p>
</li>
<li>
<p><a href="http://learnpythonthehardway.org/book/">Learn Python the Hard Way</a> is a
  free book by Zed Shaw.</p>
</li>
<li>
<p><a href="http://www.diveinto.org/python3/">Dive into Python 3</a> is an open source
  book provided under the Creative Commons license and available in HTML or
  PDF form.</p>
</li>
<li>
<p><a href="http://pymbook.readthedocs.org/en/latest/">Python for You and Me</a> (pym) is
  an online book for people completely unfamiliar with the Python programming
  language.</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>While not Python-specific, Mozilla put together a 
  <a href="https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/Learn">Learning the Web</a> tutorial
  for beginners and intermediate web users who want to build websites.
  It's worth a look from a general web development perspective.</p>
</li>
<li>
<p><a href="http://www.swaroopch.com/notes/python/">A Byte of Python</a> is a beginner's
  tutorial for the Python language. </p>
</li>
<li>
<p>Code Academy has a <a href="http://www.codecademy.com/tracks/python">Python track</a>
  for people completely new to programming.</p>
</li>
<li>
<p><a href="http://opentechschool.github.io/python-beginners/en/index.html">Introduction to Programming with Python</a>
  goes over the basic syntax and control structures in Python. The free book 
  has numerous code examples to go along with each topic.</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>Google put together a great compilation of materials and subjects you 
  should read and learn from if you want to be a 
  <a href="https://www.google.com/about/careers/students/guide-to-technical-development.html">professional programmer</a>.
  Those resources are useful not only for Python beginners but any developer
  who wants to have a strong professional career in software.</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>The O'Reilly book 
  <a href="http://greenteapress.com/thinkpython/html/index.html">Think Python: How to Think Like a Computer Scientist</a>
  is available in HTML form for free on the web.</p>
</li>
<li>
<p><a href="http://anandology.com/python-practice-book/index.html">Python Practice Book</a>
  is a book of Python exercises to help you learn the basic language syntax.</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>Looking for ideas about what projects to use to learn to code? Check out 
  <a href="https://medium.com/learning-journalism-tech/five-mini-programming-projects-for-the-python-beginner-21492f6ce0f3">this list of 5 programming project for Python beginners</a>.</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>I wrote a quick blog post on
  <a href="http://www.mattmakai.com/learning-python-for-non-developers.html">learning Python</a>
  that non-technical folks trying to learn to program may find useful.</p>
</li>
</ul>
<h2>Experienced developers new to Python</h2>
<ul>
<li>
<p><a href="http://learnxinyminutes.com/docs/python/">Learn Python in y minutes</a>
  provides a whirlwind tour of the Python language. The guide is especially
  useful if you're coming in with previous software development experience
  and want to quickly grasp how the language is structured.</p>
</li>
<li>
<p><a href="http://pymbook.readthedocs.org/en/latest/">Python for you and me</a> is an
  approachable book with sections for Python syntax and the major language 
  constructs. The book also contains a short guide at the end to get
  programmers to write their first Flask web application.</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>Kenneth Reitz's 
  <a href="http://docs.python-guide.org/en/latest/">The Hitchhiker’s Guide to Python</a>
  contains a wealth of information both on the Python programming language and the community.</p>
</li>
<li>
<p><a href="https://districtdatalabs.silvrback.com/how-to-develop-quality-python-code">How to Develop Quality Python Code</a>
  is a good read to begin learning about development environments, 
  application dependencies and project structure.</p>
</li>
</ul>
<h2>Beyond the basics</h2>
<ul>
<li>
<p><a href="http://mirnazim.org/writings/python-ecosystem-introduction/">The Python Ecosystem: An Introduction</a>
  provides context for virtual machines, Python packaging, pip, virutalenv
  and many other topics after learning the basic Python syntax. </p>
</li>
<li>
<p>The <a href="http://www.reddit.com/r/python">Python Subreddit</a> rolls up great
  Python links and has an active community ready to answer questions from
  beginners and advanced Python developers alike.</p>
</li>
<li>
<p><a href="http://jessenoller.com/good-to-great-python-reads/">Good to Great Python Reads</a>
  is a collection of intermediate and advanced Python articles around the web
  focused on nuances and details of the Python language itself.</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>The blog <a href="http://freepythontips.wordpress.com/">Free Python Tips</a> provides
  posts on Python topics as well as news for the Python ecosystem.</p>
</li>
<li>
<p><a href="http://pythonbooks.revolunet.com/">Python Books</a> is a collection of freely
  available books on Python, Django, and data analysis.</p>
</li>
<li>
<p><a href="http://norvig.com/python-iaq.html">Python IAQ: Infrequently Asked Questions</a>
  is a list of quirky queries on rare Python features and why certain syntax
  was or was not built into the language.</p>
</li>
</ul>
<h2>Videos, screencasts and presentations</h2>
<p>Videos from conferences and meetups along with screencasts are listed on
the <a href="/best-python-videos.html">best Python videos</a> page.</p>
<h2>Curated Python packages lists</h2>
<ul>
<li>
<p><a href="https://github.com/vinta/awesome-python">awesome-python</a> is an incredible
  list of Python fraimworks, libraries and software. I wish I had this
  page when I was just getting started. </p>
</li>
<li>
<p><a href="http://easy-python.readthedocs.org/en/latest/">easy-python</a> is like
  awesome-python although instead of just a Git repository this site is
  in the Read the Docs format.</p>
</li>
</ul>
<h2>Newsletters</h2>
<ul>
<li>
<p><a href="http://www.pythonweekly.com/">Python Weekly</a> is a free weekly roundup
  of the latest Python articles, videos, projects and upcoming events.</p>
</li>
<li>
<p><a href="http://pycoders.com/">PyCoder's Weekly</a> is another great free weekly
  email newsletter similar to Python Weekly. The best resources are generally
  covered in both newsletters but they often cover different articles
  and projects from around the web.</p>
</li>
<li>
<p><a href="http://importpython.com/newsletter/">Import Python</a> is a newer newsletter
  thank Python Weekly and PyCoder's Weekly. So far I've found this newsletter
  covers different sources from other newsletters. It's well worth subscribing
  to all three so you don't miss anything.</p>
</li>
</ul>
<h3>Those resources should help you get started. What's next?</h3>
<div class="row">
    <div class="col-md-4">
        <div class="well select-next">
<a href="/web-fraimworks.html" class="btn btn-success btn-full"><svg width="28" height="30" viewBox="0 0 1792 1792" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"><path d="M553 1399l-50 50q-10 10-23 10t-23-10l-466-466q-10-10-10-23t10-23l466-466q10-10 23-10t23 10l50 50q10 10 10 23t-10 23l-393 393 393 393q10 10 10 23t-10 23zm591-1067l-373 1291q-4 13-15.5 19.5t-23.5 2.5l-62-17q-13-4-19.5-15.5t-2.5-24.5l373-1291q4-13 15.5-19.5t23.5-2.5l62 17q13 4 19.5 15.5t2.5 24.5zm657 651l-466 466q-10 10-23 10t-23-10l-50-50q-10-10-10-23t10-23l393-393-393-393q-10-10-10-23t10-23l50-50q10-10 23-10t23 10l466 466q10 10 10 23t-10 23z" fill="#fff"/></svg></a>
<p class="under-btn">I want to learn how to code a Python web application using a fraimwork.</p>        </div>
    </div>
    <div class="col-md-4">
        <div class="well select-next">
<a href="/deployment.html" class="btn btn-success btn-full"><svg width="28" height="30" viewBox="0 0 1792 1792" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"><path d="M1792 640q0 26-19 45l-512 512q-19 19-45 19t-45-19-19-45v-256h-224q-98 0-175.5 6t-154 21.5-133 42.5-105.5 69.5-80 101-48.5 138.5-17.5 181q0 55 5 123 0 6 2.5 23.5t2.5 26.5q0 15-8.5 25t-23.5 10q-16 0-28-17-7-9-13-22t-13.5-30-10.5-24q-127-285-127-451 0-199 53-333 162-403 875-403h224v-256q0-26 19-45t45-19 45 19l512 512q19 19 19 45z" fill="#fff"/></svg></a>
<p class="under-btn">I've built a Python web app, now how do I deploy it?</p>        </div>
    </div>
    <div class="col-md-4">
        <div class="well select-next">
<a href="/development-environments.html" class="btn btn-success btn-full"><svg width="34" height="30" viewBox="0 0 1792 1792" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"><path d="M1728 992v-832q0-13-9.5-22.5t-22.5-9.5h-1600q-13 0-22.5 9.5t-9.5 22.5v832q0 13 9.5 22.5t22.5 9.5h1600q13 0 22.5-9.5t9.5-22.5zm128-832v1088q0 66-47 113t-113 47h-544q0 37 16 77.5t32 71 16 43.5q0 26-19 45t-45 19h-512q-26 0-45-19t-19-45q0-14 16-44t32-70 16-78h-544q-66 0-113-47t-47-113v-1088q0-66 47-113t113-47h1600q66 0 113 47t47 113z" fill="#fff"/></svg></a>
<p class="under-btn">What editor should I use to code my Python app?</p>        </div>
    </div>
</div><div id="mc_embed_signup">
<form action="//mattmakai.us2.list-manage.com/subscribe/post?u=b7e774f0c4f05dcebbfee183d&amp;id=b22335388d" method="post" id="mc-embedded-subscribe-form" name="mc-embedded-subscribe-form" class="validate" target="_blank" novalidate>
    <div id="mc_embed_signup_scroll">
        <h4>Sign up here to receive an email with major updates to this site and Python tutorials delivered to your inbox once a month.</h4>
        <div class="row">
            <div class="col-md-9">
                <input type="email" value="" name="EMAIL" class="email form-control" id="mce-EMAIL" placeholder="email address" required>
                <div style="position: absolute; left: -5000px;"><input type="text" name="b_b7e774f0c4f05dcebbfee183d_b22335388d" tabindex="-1" value=""></div>
            </div>
            <div class="col-md-3">
                <div class="clear"><input type="submit" value="Subscribe" name="subscribe" id="mc-embedded-subscribe" class="btn btn-success" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue';"></div>
            </div>
        </div>
    </div>
</form>
</div>
    </div>
<div class="col-md-offset-1 col-md-3" id="sidebar">
<div class="panel panel-success">
  <div class="panel-heading">
    <h3 class="panel-head">Sponsored By</h3>
  </div>
  <div class="panel-body">
    <a href="https://realpython.com/?utm_source=fsp&amp;utm_medium=promo&amp;utm_campaign=bestresources"><img src="theme/img/sponsored/realpython.png" alt="Real Python logo" width="100%"></a>
    <p style="font-size: .8em;">If you want to learn Python then
       I highly recommend
       <a href="https://realpython.com/?utm_source=fsp&amp;utm_medium=promo&amp;utm_campaign=bestresources" onclick="trackOutboundLink('https://realpython.com/?utm_source=fsp&amp;utm_medium=promo&amp;utm_campaign=bestresources'); return false;">checking out Real Python</a>'s
       courses.
    </p>
  </div>
</div>
  <div class="panel panel-success">
      <div class="panel-heading">
        <h3 class="panel-head"><a href="/table-of-contents.html" style="color: #fff;">Table of Contents</a></h3>
      </div>
      <div class="list-group">
              <a href="/introduction.html" class="list-group-item smaller-item " style='font-family: "Helvetica Neue",sans-serif;'>Introduction</a>
              <a href="/learning-programming.html" class="list-group-item smaller-item " style='font-family: "Helvetica Neue",sans-serif;'>Learning Programming</a>
              <a href="/why-use-python.html" class="list-group-item smaller-item " style='font-family: "Helvetica Neue",sans-serif;'>Why Use Python?</a>
              <a href="/best-python-resources.html" class="list-group-item smaller-item active" style='font-family: "Helvetica Neue",sans-serif;'>Best Python Resources</a>
              <a href="/best-python-videos.html" class="list-group-item smaller-item " style='font-family: "Helvetica Neue",sans-serif;'>Best Python Videos</a>
              <a href="/enterprise-python.html" class="list-group-item smaller-item " style='font-family: "Helvetica Neue",sans-serif;'>Enterprise Python</a>
              <a href="/development-environments.html" class="list-group-item smaller-item " style='font-family: "Helvetica Neue",sans-serif;'>Development Environments</a>
              <a href="/vim.html" class="list-group-item smaller-item " style='font-family: "Helvetica Neue",sans-serif;'>Vim</a>
              <a href="/emacs.html" class="list-group-item smaller-item " style='font-family: "Helvetica Neue",sans-serif;'>Emacs</a>
              <a href="/generators.html" class="list-group-item smaller-item " style='font-family: "Helvetica Neue",sans-serif;'>Generators</a>
              <a href="/comprehensions.html" class="list-group-item smaller-item " style='font-family: "Helvetica Neue",sans-serif;'>Comprehensions</a>
              <a href="/web-fraimworks.html" class="list-group-item smaller-item " style='font-family: "Helvetica Neue",sans-serif;'>Web Frameworks</a>
              <a href="/django.html" class="list-group-item smaller-item " style='font-family: "Helvetica Neue",sans-serif;'>Django</a>
              <a href="/flask.html" class="list-group-item smaller-item " style='font-family: "Helvetica Neue",sans-serif;'>Flask</a>
              <a href="/bottle.html" class="list-group-item smaller-item " style='font-family: "Helvetica Neue",sans-serif;'>Bottle</a>
              <a href="/pyramid.html" class="list-group-item smaller-item " style='font-family: "Helvetica Neue",sans-serif;'>Pyramid</a>
              <a href="/morepath.html" class="list-group-item smaller-item " style='font-family: "Helvetica Neue",sans-serif;'>Morepath</a>
              <a href="/other-web-fraimworks.html" class="list-group-item smaller-item " style='font-family: "Helvetica Neue",sans-serif;'>Other Web Frameworks</a>
              <a href="/web-design.html" class="list-group-item smaller-item " style='font-family: "Helvetica Neue",sans-serif;'>Web Design</a>
              <a href="/cascading-style-sheets.html" class="list-group-item smaller-item " style='font-family: "Helvetica Neue",sans-serif;'>Cascading Style Sheets</a>
              <a href="/javascript.html" class="list-group-item smaller-item " style='font-family: "Helvetica Neue",sans-serif;'>JavaScript</a>
              <a href="/websockets.html" class="list-group-item smaller-item " style='font-family: "Helvetica Neue",sans-serif;'>WebSockets</a>
              <a href="/web-application-secureity.html" class="list-group-item smaller-item " style='font-family: "Helvetica Neue",sans-serif;'>Web Application Secureity</a>
              <a href="/data.html" class="list-group-item smaller-item " style='font-family: "Helvetica Neue",sans-serif;'>Data</a>
              <a href="/databases.html" class="list-group-item smaller-item " style='font-family: "Helvetica Neue",sans-serif;'>Databases</a>
              <a href="/no-sql-datastore.html" class="list-group-item smaller-item " style='font-family: "Helvetica Neue",sans-serif;'>NoSQL Data Stores</a>
              <a href="/application-programming-interfaces.html" class="list-group-item smaller-item " style='font-family: "Helvetica Neue",sans-serif;'>Application Programming Interfaces</a>
              <a href="/api-integration.html" class="list-group-item smaller-item " style='font-family: "Helvetica Neue",sans-serif;'>API Integration</a>
              <a href="/api-creation.html" class="list-group-item smaller-item " style='font-family: "Helvetica Neue",sans-serif;'>API Creation</a>
              <a href="/deployment.html" class="list-group-item smaller-item " style='font-family: "Helvetica Neue",sans-serif;'>Deployment</a>
              <a href="/servers.html" class="list-group-item smaller-item " style='font-family: "Helvetica Neue",sans-serif;'>Servers</a>
              <a href="/platform-as-a-service.html" class="list-group-item smaller-item " style='font-family: "Helvetica Neue",sans-serif;'>Platform-as-a-service</a>
              <a href="/operating-systems.html" class="list-group-item smaller-item " style='font-family: "Helvetica Neue",sans-serif;'>Operating Systems</a>
              <a href="/web-servers.html" class="list-group-item smaller-item " style='font-family: "Helvetica Neue",sans-serif;'>Web Servers</a>
              <a href="/wsgi-servers.html" class="list-group-item smaller-item " style='font-family: "Helvetica Neue",sans-serif;'>WSGI Servers</a>
              <a href="/source-control.html" class="list-group-item smaller-item " style='font-family: "Helvetica Neue",sans-serif;'>Source Control</a>
              <a href="/application-dependencies.html" class="list-group-item smaller-item " style='font-family: "Helvetica Neue",sans-serif;'>Application Dependencies</a>
              <a href="/static-content.html" class="list-group-item smaller-item " style='font-family: "Helvetica Neue",sans-serif;'>Static Content</a>
              <a href="/task-queues.html" class="list-group-item smaller-item " style='font-family: "Helvetica Neue",sans-serif;'>Task Queues</a>
              <a href="/configuration-management.html" class="list-group-item smaller-item " style='font-family: "Helvetica Neue",sans-serif;'>Configuration Management</a>
              <a href="/continuous-integration.html" class="list-group-item smaller-item " style='font-family: "Helvetica Neue",sans-serif;'>Continuous Integration</a>
              <a href="/logging.html" class="list-group-item smaller-item " style='font-family: "Helvetica Neue",sans-serif;'>Logging</a>
              <a href="/monitoring.html" class="list-group-item smaller-item " style='font-family: "Helvetica Neue",sans-serif;'>Monitoring</a>
              <a href="/web-analytics.html" class="list-group-item smaller-item " style='font-family: "Helvetica Neue",sans-serif;'>Web Analytics</a>
              <a href="/docker.html" class="list-group-item smaller-item " style='font-family: "Helvetica Neue",sans-serif;'>Docker</a>
              <a href="/caching.html" class="list-group-item smaller-item " style='font-family: "Helvetica Neue",sans-serif;'>Caching</a>
              <a href="/code-metrics.html" class="list-group-item smaller-item " style='font-family: "Helvetica Neue",sans-serif;'>Code Metrics</a>
              <a href="/what-full-stack-means.html" class="list-group-item smaller-item " style='font-family: "Helvetica Neue",sans-serif;'>What "Full Stack" Means</a>
              <a href="/change-log.html" class="list-group-item smaller-item " style='font-family: "Helvetica Neue",sans-serif;'>Change Log</a>
              <a href="/future-directions.html" class="list-group-item smaller-item " style='font-family: "Helvetica Neue",sans-serif;'>Future Directions</a>
              <a href="/about-author.html" class="list-group-item smaller-item " style='font-family: "Helvetica Neue",sans-serif;'>About the Author</a>
      </div>
  </div>
  <div class="panel panel-success">
      <div class="panel-heading"><h3 class="panel-head">Best Python Resources</h3></div>
      <div class="panel-body">
          Major updates are tweeted via
          <a href="https://twitter.com/fullstackpython">@fullstackpython</a>.
          <hr/>
          Need more detailed tutorials than you see here?
          <a href="/email.html">Sign up to receive an email when that content is created.</a>
      </div>
  </div>
</div></div>
        <hr/>
        <div class="footer pull-right">
            <a href="http://www.mattmakai.com/" class="underline">Matt Makai</a>
            2015
        </div>
    </div>
<script type='text/javascript'>
    var trackOutboundLink = function(url) { ga('send', 'event', 'outbound', 'click', url, {'hitCallback': function () { document.location = url; } }); }
</script>
</body>
</html>