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Introduction to Python

A picture tour of the course

One screenshot for each part of the course, with arrows on the button being described. Ten minutes of looking and you will know where everything is.

Reading a lesson and running Python need no account. Saved progress and the AI tutor need one. The course is continuous: no start date, no end date, and nothing is due.

Open the first lesson

1. Everything starts on the course page

Sections on the left, the next thing to do at the top, the module list underneath. You will come back here often.

The course page for Introduction to Python: a sidebar listing the course sections on the left, a red card at the top naming the next lesson, and the steps of the first module listed under it.73 modules, all hereWhat to open nextEvery step in the module
  • 73 modules, all here: The sidebar holds every section. Click one and it opens its lessons.
  • What to open next: The card at the top always points at your next unfinished step.
  • Every step in the module: Below the card, each module lists its steps in the order they were written.

2. The card at the top

Click Continue and you land on the step you have not done yet. Nothing on this card is a deadline, because the course does not have any.

The card at the top of the course page. It reads PICK UP WHERE YOU LEFT OFF, names the lesson What is a variable, carries a Continue button, shows 0 of 215 lessons done, and says the course runs continuously.Picks up where you stoppedHow far you have gotNo deadlines
A brand new account sees START HERE and Open the first lesson on this same card.
  • Picks up where you stopped: One click and you are back in the runner, on the right step.
  • How far you have got: Lessons finished, out of the whole course.
  • No deadlines: The course runs continuously. You set the pace and nothing expires.

3. What is inside a module

Most modules are three short steps: a video, a reading, then an exercise you code. The opening ones, like this, run longer.

One module on the course page. Six rows, each tagged either Material or Assignment, with either an Open link or a points value on the right.Watch or readYou write codeWhat it is worth
  • Watch or read: Material is a video or a reading. It earns XP but carries no grade.
  • You write code: Assignment is an exercise you solve in the editor.
  • What it is worth: The points an exercise adds to your grade once it passes.

4. Watching a lesson

Every module opens with a recorded lecture of a minute or two. The notes underneath say the same thing in text, for when you would rather read it.

A video step called What is a variable. The lecture video fills most of the screen, with a short summary and three bullet points under it.What it is worthThe same points in text
  • What it is worth: Every step says what kind it is and how much XP finishing it gives you.
  • The same points in text: Notes under the video, so you do not have to scrub back through it.

Scroll to the bottom for the button that ends the step.

A red button reading Mark watched, plus 50 XP.
It sits at the bottom of every video and reading step. Clicking it banks the XP and moves you on.

5. Reading a lesson

A reading is plain explanation with worked examples. Same shape as the video step: a title, what it is worth, and a button at the bottom.

A reading step called How variables and print work. Sections of explanation with black code blocks between them, and a floating AI tutor button in the bottom right corner.Reading, and its XPThe tutor is always here
  • Reading, and its XP: Readings are worth XP too, and you finish them the same way.
  • The tutor is always here: This floating button opens the AI tutor, on every step of the course.

Some readings carry a tracer under the example. Press Trace and walk through the program a line at a time, watching the variables appear.

The CodeLens panel: four lines of Python on the left, a frames and objects area on the right, and a row of controls reading Trace, Prev, Next and Explain this step.Press TraceVariables show up here
  • Press Trace: Then Next walks forward one line and Prev walks back.
  • Variables show up here: Frames and objects, updated at every line. The fastest way to see what a program is really doing.

6. Readings with a live editor

Each lesson also exists as a full reading page, and there the examples are editors you can type in. The course page does not link to it, so here is the first one: lesson 1 as a reading page.

An ActiveCode block inside a lesson page: a dark editor holding four comment lines, then buttons reading Run, Submit for tests, Reset, Save draft, Show hint and Ask the AI tutor, then an empty output panel.Runs your versionNeeds an account
  • Runs your version: Change the example, run it, break it on purpose. Nothing here is graded and there is no limit.
  • Needs an account: The tutor is the one control here that asks you to sign in. Run and Reset do not.

7. Doing an exercise

An exercise splits in two: what to do on the left, where to do it on the right. The starter code has blanks in it for you to fill.

A coding exercise called Working with strings. Instructions and a Take Hint button on the left, a dark Python editor top right, and an empty output shell below it.The task and its XPYour editorOutput lands here
The first exercise you open is slow: your browser is fetching Python, about 12 MB of it. The badge in the editor header reads loading until that is done, then ready. After that it is instant.
  • The task and its XP: Read all of it. The instructions name the exact variables the tests look for.
  • Your editor: Python itself runs inside your browser, so typing and running here cost nothing.
  • Output lands here: Everything your program prints, and every error it hits.

Three buttons sit under the editor, and the difference between two of them matters.

The row of controls under the editor: a circular reset arrow, a grey Run Code button, and a green Submit Answer button.Start overTry it, nothing countsThis one counts
  • Start over: Puts the starter code back, for when an experiment goes badly.
  • Try it, nothing counts: Run Code just runs your program. Press it as often as you like.
  • This one counts: Submit Answer checks your work against tests you cannot see, and records the result.

8. Run first, then Submit

Run is how you find out what your code does. The error it prints is real Python, and learning to read it is most of the course.

The output shell after running unfinished starter code. A red chip reads error, see output, and the traceback under it ends with NameError, name blank is not defined.Red means it stoppedThe real error
  • Red means it stopped: Your program did not finish. This is normal and it costs you nothing.
  • The real error: The last line names what went wrong. Here the blanks were never filled in.

Submit runs the hidden tests instead. They look at the values inside your program, so printing the right thing by luck does not pass.

The output shell after a passing submit. A green chip reads ran without errors, and one line under it reads PASS, hidden tests.Green means it passedThe hidden tests
  • Green means it passed: The chip in the shell header is the quickest read on the screen.
  • The hidden tests: The report prints here. If a test fails it says which one, and you try again.

9. Hints, and what they cost

Every exercise carries three or four written hints. Each one costs 30 XP, the price is printed on the button before you press it, and the badge drops the moment you take one.

The left half of the exercise after one hint. The XP badge now reads 70 XP, a gold box holds Hint 1, and the button under it reads Take Hint, minus 30 XP, with 2 hints left beside it.Now worth 70Each hint costs 30 XP
These hints are written by the course, not by the AI tutor, and taking one never costs you an attempt.
  • Now worth 70: It read 100 XP before the hint. The number on the badge is what you can still earn.
  • Each hint costs 30 XP: Taking all of them is allowed. It just leaves less on the table.

10. What a pass looks like

The shell turns green, the badge changes to what you earned, and the counters in the top bar move.

The exercise after a passing submit. The badge reads plus 70 XP earned, the top bar reads Daily XP 70 and Total 290 XP, the shell chip is green with PASS, hidden tests under it, and a pop-up in the corner offers the next step.What you earnedYour XP movesHidden tests report
The pop-up in the corner still says 100. It forgets the hint that was taken, so trust the badge and the top bar instead.
  • What you earned: 100 for the exercise, less the 30 for the hint that was taken.
  • Your XP moves: The daily and total counters go up by the same amount.
  • Hidden tests report: Proof that the tests passed you, not that the output happened to look right.

11. The AI tutor

Opened from that floating button, on any step. It needs an account, and it coaches rather than answers: expect a question back, and help one rung at a time. Type what is actually confusing you, not a request for the solution.

The AI tutor panel docked beside the lesson. It opens with a greeting, the student asks why print puts a space between two values, and the reply is labelled HINT LEVEL 2 and answers with two questions rather than with code.It asks before it answersOne rung at a time
  • It asks before it answers: That line is the whole design of the tutor, and it holds most of the time.
  • One rung at a time: Replies climb a ladder of six levels. Asking again moves you up a rung, it does not skip to the end.

Worth knowing before you type. Every message you send the tutor is stored on your account, and course staff can read the conversation word for word. Clearing the panel hides a thread from you, it does not delete it. The privacy notice says where the rest of it goes.

12. Nothing is locked

The same bar sits across the top of every step. The arrows move one step at a time, and Course Outline opens the whole course.

The bar across the top of a step: a breadcrumb reading Learn, Courses, Python Fundamentals, Variables and print, then a back arrow, a Course Outline button, a forward arrow, and the Daily XP and Total XP counters.Back a stepJump anywhereXP so far
  • Back a step: The arrow on the other side goes forward. Neither one grades anything.
  • Jump anywhere: Opens the full course outline over whatever you are looking at.
  • XP so far: Today and in total, visible from every step.

At the bottom, one dot per step in the module. Click one to go there.

Six rounded dots in a row. The first is wide and red, two are green, the rest are grey.You are hereFinished
  • You are here: The wide red one is the step on screen.
  • Finished: Green is done. Grey is not done yet, and you can still click it.

The outline is the whole course in one list. Nothing is locked behind anything else, so you can skip ahead and come back.

The course outline overlay. Section 1, Python Fundamentals, is open and shows its six steps, each with an icon, an XP value, and a tick beside the two that are finished. More sections are listed below.The iconDoneClick any row
  • The icon: It tells you whether a step is a video, a reading or code, before you open it.
  • Done: A tick marks the steps you have finished.
  • Click any row: Any step in any section, in any order. Nothing here is locked.

13. Seeing where you are

Grades, in the sidebar, is the honest picture: every graded exercise, what it scored, and how much of the course you have covered.

The Grades page for the course. A table of graded exercises with their scores in the middle, and a panel on the right reading Score so far, 100 percent, A, then Course completed, 1.15 percent, then a breakdown by module.Your scoreNothing is late
  • Your score: How you did on the work you have actually done, not on the whole course.
  • Nothing is late: The second number is how much of the course you have covered. There is no schedule to be behind.

That is the whole interface

Go and use it. If you would rather have the same ground covered in words, with every click spelled out, the eight written guides do that. If you have not signed up yet and want to know what you are joining, read Getting started.

Open the first lessonThe eight written guides →Getting started →