Python from Zero: Useful Scripts for Work

What's inside

1. Level 1: Install Python and Run Your First ScriptFree
   Install Python 3.13 or later and VS Code (or open a browser notebook), then write, save and run a one-line script and check that it worked.
2. Level 2: The Interactive Prompt, Values, Types and VariablesFree
   Use the interactive prompt to try out values, see their types and store them in variables with clear names.
3. Level 3: Numbers and Arithmetic
   Do the kind of sums you used to do in a spreadsheet with Python's operators, and learn where floats give surprising answers.
4. Level 4: Strings and f-strings
   Clean up, slice and format text with string methods and f-strings so a script's output is readable.
5. Level 5: Lists and Tuples
   Keep ordered collections of values in lists you can change and tuples you cannot, and work with them using indexing and built-in functions.
6. Level 6: Dictionaries and Sets
   Look things up by key with dictionaries and remove duplicates or compare groups with sets.
7. Level 7: Making Decisions with Conditions
   Make a script choose what to do with if, elif and else, comparisons and the and, or and not operators.
8. Level 8: Repeating Work with for and while Loops
   Process every item in a collection with for loops, repeat until a condition changes with while loops, and build up totals as you go.
9. Level 9: Functions, Parameters and Return Values
   Package repeated logic into functions that take parameters and return results, so a script is made of small, named, reusable parts.
10. Level 10: Errors, Tracebacks, try and except
    Read a traceback from the bottom up to find what went wrong and where, then handle failures you expect with try and except.
11. Level 11: Debugging and Reading the Documentation
    Find bugs by checking your assumptions step by step with print calls and the VS Code debugger, and look up answers in the official Python documentation.
12. Level 12: Reading and Writing Text Files with pathlib
    Build file paths that work on any operating system with pathlib, then read and write text files safely with an explicit encoding.
13. Level 13: Project: Summarise a CSV and Save JSON
    Use the csv and json modules to read a real CSV, group and total its rows, and write the summary as both CSV and JSON.
14. Level 14: Project: Rename Files Using Dates
    Use datetime with pathlib to rename a folder of files to a consistent, dated naming scheme, with a dry run first so nothing is lost.
15. Level 15: Modules, Imports and Script Entry Points
    Split a growing script into your own modules, import from the standard library and from your own files, and give each script a proper entry point.
16. Level 16: Project: Call a Web API from a Virtual Environment
    Create a virtual environment, install requests with pip, record dependencies, and write a script that calls a public web API and handles failures.
17. Level 17: Testing with assert and pytest, and Checking AI Code
    Write small tests with assert and pytest, then use an AI assistant to explain or draft code and check what it writes with your own tests and the docs.
18. Level 18: Final Challenge: Build a Complete Work Script Exam
    Bring the whole course together by building, testing and documenting a small work tool that reads files, summarises data, handles errors and runs from its own virtual environment.

Access

The first 2 levels are free with a free account. Every level, the podcast edition and the AI tutor come with All Access at £4.99/month or any Creator plan — see pricing.

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