What's the best way to self-learn Python or any programming language?
The answer is surprisingly simple: Learn by doing.
Many beginners spend weeks watching tutorial after tutorial without writing much code. Tutorials are useful, but they should help you get started—not become your entire learning process.
Here's the approach I recommend:
- Get a basic overview by watching a short tutorial.
- Pick a small project that genuinely interests you.
- Use AI to understand concepts and debug your code, not to write everything for you.
- Build consistently, make mistakes, and improve with each project.
This is exactly how I learned Python. I built web apps, Telegram bots, and automated tasks I used to do manually. Every project taught me something new and made me a better programmer.
Bonus: If you're looking for a free resource to learn and practice Python, I highly recommend the University of Helsinki Python Programming MOOC. It's completely free for anyone, beginner-friendly, and follows the same hands-on "learn by doing" philosophy.
If you're learning Python and feel stuck or want guidance on what to build next, feel free to send me a DM.