A Practical Introduction to Python

My course, TECH 19 - A Practical Introduction to Python is coming back to Stanford Continuing Studies in 2026!

This course provides an accessible introduction to using the Python lanugage. In the course, we use Visual Studio Code, and later, I introduce some other common tools like Jupyter notebooks. We also touch on using third-party modules in the second half in the course.

Here’s the official course description:

“Python is a popular and flexible programming language widely adopted in many fields and professions that allows us to build our own software or connect programs and data together in many different ways. Learning a programming language can be intimidating, so this course starts at the very beginning and focuses on the basics of the Python language and the Python Standard Library, which is a collection of script modules and small programs designed to simplify the programming process and remove the need to rewrite commonly used commands. However, this course won’t just teach fundamental Python skills; we’ll put those skills to use by building a basic terminal-based note-taking application to store and retrieve notes in a file on disk. We’ll design and create this application using foundational Python concepts such as variables, control structures, and collections. At the end of the course, you’ll have accrued valuable programming skills and built a working application that demonstrates your programming ability.

No prior programming experience is required. This course focuses on Python fundamentals, with limited exposure to Python libraries such as NumPy, Pandas, etc.”

If this sounds interesting to you, be sure to search for the course on the Stanford Continuing Studies course catalog! I’ll also post about it on LinkedIn when registration opens.