Python - The Practical Guide

Learn Python from the ground up and use Python to build a hands-on project from scratch!

Want to learn Python "on the job" whilst building an exciting course project? This course is for you!

This is a highly practice-oriented Python course that teaches you Python from scratch - no prior programming experience required!

Python is probably THE most trending programming language you can learn these days!

It's very popular because it's easy to learn and use, runs on all operating systems and allows you to build a broad variety of programs: Be that web applications, desktop applications, utility scripts or using it for data science and machine learning.

In this course, you'll learn Python from scratch - and you'll do so whilst building your own Blockchain and Cryptocurrency. These are of course also highly trending topics and not a lot of people understand what a Blockchain really is. As a nice side-effect, you will know how a Blockchain works once you completed this course. It's an exciting course project that allows you to learn and apply Python to something you know and you can use.

Why Python?

As written above, Python is both easy-to-use and extremely versatile and powerful at the same time. Certainly not the worst combination. If you check it on Google trends (and compare it to other programming languages), you'll see that it's very popular these days.

It's being used by almost any important company - be that Google, Amazon or Facebook. It's used to run web applications, scripts, desktop programs and machine learning algorithms. This course sets the basics for all these use-cases!

Why Blockchain?

I believe that you learn something best if you directly apply it to a real-world project. And the Blockchain technology is an exciting trend which is there to stay. In this course, you'll learn a lot about the core concepts of the Blockchain and you'll see how Python can be used for the many aspects that make up a Blockchain and Cryptocurrency.

In my opinion, a perfect course project is challenging, interesting, something you know from real-life but also not overly complex. And that's all the case for the Blockchain! It poses some nice challenges where a lot of different Python features can be used to overcome them. It also is something we hear about all the time and yet no one knows how it works. And we can dive into the core Blockchain concepts without spending 100+ hours working on it.

What's in the course?

Great question! Here's a brief summary:

A summary of Python and the Blockchain technology
All the base Python syntax you need to know (variables, operators, functions, ...)
Loops and conditional statements
More complex data structures like tuples or dictionaries
A closer look at built-in functions and the standard library Python ships with
String manipulation
How to work with files
Error handling
Debugging
Object-oriented programming with classes and inheritance
Internal & external modules (packages)
How to spin up an Http server with the Flask package
Handling Http requests (sending & receiving)
And more!

Is this course for you?

It's for you if ...

You want to get into programming => Python is a great "first language" since it's easy to learn and very versatile
You want to broaden your horizon => Are you a web developer? Want to learn something new? Here you go!
You're interested in Python for web development => This course will teach you Python in general but there are two modules where we'll also dive into web development a bit
You're interested in the Blockchain technology => You'll learn the core concepts of it as a side-effect of this course!
You know Python but want to practice it => The course project is challenging and taken from real-life - there probably is no better practice

Section: Getting Started

1. Introduction (1:51) Preview

2. What is Python? (5:07) Preview

3. Setting Up Python (3:11) Preview

4. Writing our First Python Code (5:05) Preview

5. Join our Online Learning Community (1:00) Preview

6. What is the Blockchain? (6:48) Preview

7. Course Outline (4:41) Preview

8. Python Alternatives (3:58) Preview

9. Understanding the Python Versions (2:22) Preview

10. How To Get The Most Out Of This Course (3:27) Preview

11. Useful Resources & Links (1:00) Preview

Section: Diving Into the Basics of Python

12. Module Introduction (2:16) Preview

13. Understanding the REPL and Data Types (4:25) Preview

14. Working with Variables (4:46) Start

15. Working with Numbers (5:36) Start

16. Using Operators (3:48) Start

17. Understanding a "Special" Behaviour when Working with Numbers (3:35) Start

18. Working with Strings (2:18) Start

19. Working with Lists (5:09) Start

20. Adding & Removing List Items (3:02) Start

21. Preparing the Blockchain - The Theory (2:02) Start

22. Installing our IDE (5:17) Start

23. Using Functions to Add List Items (6:45) Start

24. Accessing the Last List Item (3:24) Start

25. Adding Arguments to Functions (2:36) Start

26. Understanding the "return" Keyword (3:57) Start

27. Using Default Arguments (4:06) Start

28. Working with Keyword Arguments (2:59) Start

29. Using the "input" Function (3:00) Start

30. Avoiding Repetitive Code Execution (2:06) Start

31. Understanding the Variable Scope (6:49) Start

32. Exploring the Official Documentation (2:25) Start

33. Adding Comments and Doc Strings (4:20) Start

34. Structuring Multi Line Code in Python (1:56) Start

35. Assignment - Basics (Problem) (1:34) Start

36. Assignment - Basics (Solution) (11:24) Start

37. Wrap Up (3:28) Start

38. Useful Resources & Links (1:00) Start

Section: Working with Loops & Conditionals

39. Module Introduction (1:38) Start

40. Understanding Loops - Theory (2:55) Start

41. Creating a "for" Loop (3:02) Start

42. Creating a "while" Loop (3:33) Start

43. Closing the REPL (1:00) Start

44. Understanding Conditionals - Theory (2:01) Start

45. Adding "if-else" to our Blockchain (7:45) Start

46. Working with "elif" (3:43) Start

47. Understanding "break" & "continue" (3:31) Start

48. Improving our Code with Loops & Conditionals (6:39) Start

49. Understanding Boolean Operators - "is" & "in" (3:37) Start

50. The "not" Keyword (1:17) Start

51. Understanding "and" and "or" (2:26) Start

52. Grouping Conditionals (3:22) Start

53. What About "switch" in Python? (0:41) Start

54. Verifying our Blockchain (13:10) Start

55. Blockchain Theory: Understanding Blockchain Verification (1:00) Start

56. Using Conditions inside the "while" Loop (1:56) Start

57. Using "else" in Loops (2:07) Start

58. Adding the "range" Function (7:09) Start

59. Assignment - Loops & Conditionals (Problem) (2:50) Start

60. Assignment - Loops & Conditionals (Solution) (7:52) Start

61. Wrap Up (3:11) Start

62. Useful Resources & Links (1:00) Start

Section: Understanding Complex Data Structures

63. Module Introduction (2:50) Start

64. Understanding the Required Data Structure for our Blockchain (7:03) Start

65. Working with Iterables (5:01) Start

66. Choosing the Right Datastructure (2:55) Start

67. Transactions with Dictionaries & Tuples (7:46) Start

68. Blockchain Theory: Understanding Transactions (1:00) Start

69. Unpacking the Tuple (3:20) Start

70. Mining Blocks (6:16) Start

71. Hashing Previous Blocks (6:23) Start

72. Understanding List Comprehensions (5:48) Start

73. And What are Dict Comprehensions? (1:39) Start

74. Combining List Comprehensions & "if" (2:53) Start

75. Improving the Blockchain Validation Logic (8:20) Start

76. Managing a List of Participants in the Blockchain (3:33) Start

77. Calculating Balances (7:46) Start

78. Rewarding the Miners of our Blockchain (3:23) Start

79. Verifying Transactions (5:45) Start

80. Understanding Reference vs Value Copying (7:07) Start

81. Working with the Range Selector (5:42) Start

82. Understanding Shallow vs Deep Copies (2:42) Start

83. Comparing "is" & "==" (1:36) Start

84. Diving Deeper Into Iterable Methods (7:27) Start

85. Understanding the "all" & "any" Functions (7:35) Start

86. Comparing Iterables (6:46) Start

87. Assignment - Complex Datastructures (Problem) (1:27) Start

88. Assignment - Complex Datastructures (Solution) (7:17) Start

89. Wrap Up (3:17) Start

90. Useful Resources & Links (1:00) Start

Section: Working with Functions & Strings

91. Module Introduction (1:30) Start

92. Comparing Strings & Lists (3:57) Start

93. Understanding the "format" Method (8:11) Start

94. Escaping Characters (1:47) Start

95. Formatting Strings Conveniently with "f" (1:27) Start

96. Adding String Formatting to our Project (2:00) Start

97. Understanding the "map" Function (2:53) Start

98. Working with Lambda Functions (2:13) Start

99. Reducing Lists (7:40) Start

100. Unpacking Function Arguments (6:32) Start

101. Assignment - Functions & Strings (Problem) (2:13) Start

102. Assignment - Functions & Strings (Solution)) (5:07) Start

103. Fixing a Bug (4:13) Start

104. Wrap Up (1:30) Start

105. Useful Resources & Links (1:00) Start

Section: Working with the Python Standard Library

106. Module Introduction (1:42) Start

107. Exploring the Python Standard Library (2:12) Start

108. Importing Packages - Theory (4:18) Start

109. Importing "hashlib" to Create a Unique Hash (7:14) Start

110. Using Other Import Syntaxes (1:47) Start

111. The "Proof of Work" (6:53) Start

112. Blockchain Theory: Understanding the "Proof of Work" (1:00) Start

113. Adding the Proof of Work to our Blockchain (5:48) Start

114. Including the Proof of Work in our Mining Function (7:49) Start

115. Fixing a Hash Order Fault (6:22) Start

116. Splitting Up our Code (4:33) Start

117. Assignment -The Standard Library (Problem) (1:41) Start

118. Assignment -The Standard Library (Solution) (3:46) Start

119. Wrap Up (2:02) Start

120. Useful Resources & Links (1:00) Start

Section: Working with Files

121. Module Introduction (1:44) Start

122. Handling File Access (5:44) Start

123. Reading Data From a File (2:33) Start

124. Reading Multi-Line Content (5:52) Start

125. Using the "with" Block Statement (2:57) Start

126. Adding File Access to our Blockchain (8:39) Start

127. Converting Strings Into Python Objects (16:01) Start

128. Storing Data with Pickle (6:05) Start

129. Comparing Pickle & JSON (1:05) Start

130. Changing the Project Back to JSON (2:30) Start

131. Why we need Proper Error Handling (0:46) Start

132. Assignment - Working with Files (Problem) (1:49) Start

133. Assignment - Working with Files (Solution) (10:21) Start

134. Wrap Up (1:17) Start

135. Useful Resources & Links (1:00) Start

Section: Handling Errors

136. Module Introduction (0:57) Start

137. Finding Logical Errors with the Debugger (5:53) Start

138. Finding Syntax Errors (1:40) Start

139. Using "try" to Find Runtime Errors (4:33) Start

140. Which Errors Should you Handle? (3:01) Start

141. Adding Error Handlers to our Blockchain (2:32) Start

142. Handling Empty File Errors (1:00) Start

143. Wrap Up (1:49) Start

144. Useful Resources & Links (1:00) Start

Section: Object Oriented Programming

145. Module Introduction (1:12) Start

146. What is Object Oriented Programming? (2:12) Start

147. Understanding Classes (1:24) Start

148. Creating a Class (5:09) Start

149. Comparing Classes, Instances & Dictionaries (2:44) Start

150. Understanding Class Attributes (3:37) Start

151. Constructor & Instance Attributes (4:20) Start

152. Printing Classes with Special Methods (6:04) Start

153. Private & Public Attributes (4:39) Start

154. Understanding Inheritance (8:46) Start

155. Planning Blockchain Classes (1:32) Start

156. Adding a "Block" Class to the BlockchainAdding a "Block" Class to the Blockchain (11:06) Start

157. An Issue with Default Arguments (1:00) Start

158. Saving Custom Class Objects via .json (4:49) Start

159. Adding a "Transaction" Class (17:46) Start

160. Inheritance in Action (5:43) Start

161. Adding a "Verification" Helper Class (10:03) Start

162. Initialising the "Node" Class (4:51) Start

163. Turning the Blockchain Into a Class (7:30) Start

164. Adding a "Node" Class (11:11) Start

165. Understanding "Instance" vs "Class" vs "Static Methods" & "Attributes" (3:39) Start

166. Using "Static" & "Class" Methods on the "Verification" Class (3:44) Start

167. Using Private Attributes in the Blockchain (3:43) Start

168. Properties vs Attributes (5:20) Start

169. Assignment - Object Oriented Programming (Problem) (1:45) Start

170. Assignment - Object Oriented Programming (Solution) (9:44) Start

171. Wrap Up (2:15) Start

172. Useful Resources & Links (1:00) Start

Section: Modules

173. Module Introduction (1:41) Start

174. Creating Packages - Module Bundles (4:40) Start

175. The "pycache" Folder (0:43) Start

176. Module Docstrings (0:51) Start

177. Controlling Exports (5:36) Start

178. Understanding Execution Context & "__name__" (4:11) Start

179. Why we Need a Private & Public Key Transaction Protection (4:25) Start

180. Using Anaconda to Install Third Party Packages (6:23) Start

181. Using Virtual Environments (1:00) Start

182. Use Pycryptodome instead of PyCrypto (1:00) Start

183. Generating Keys with a Third Party Package (6:21) Start

184. Connecting the Node & the Wallet (6:15) Start

185. Generating Keys on the Node (4:06) Start

186. Saving & Loading Keys to Files (8:24) Start

187. Creating Transaction Signatures (6:24) Start

188. Adding a Signature to our Transactions (2:42) Start

189. Verifying Signatures (6:49) Start

190. Improving the Verification Logic (5:41) Start

191. Wrap Up (1:21) Start

192. Useful Resources & Links (1:00) Start

Section: Adding HTTP with Flask

193. Module Introduction (2:04) Start

194. HTTP Requests - The Basics (5:40) Start

195. Understanding API-Endpoints/ URLs (3:32) Start

196. Data Formats (3:18) Start

197. Planning our API (2:04) Start

198. Setting Up our Environment with Flask (10:08) Start

199. Adding our First Route (10:09) Start

200. Installing Postman (2:20) Start

201. Adding a POST Request (7:21) Start

202. Setting Up Routes to Manage our Wallet (8:23) Start

203. Returning Funds (5:43) Start

204. Adding Transactions (11:26) Start

205. Fetching Open Transactions (3:14) Start

206. Testing the Public Key (1:46) Start

207. Adding a User Interface (2:41) Start

208. Optional: Configuring our UI - Creating a Wallet (13:17) Start

209. Optional: Configuring our UI - Loading a Wallet and Adding Mining & Transactions (11:58) Start

210. Exploring our UI (2:45) Start

211. Wrap Up (1:52) Start

212. Useful Resources & Links (1:00) Start

Section: The Node Network

213. Module Introduction (1:42) Start

214. Adding Node Management Methods to the Blockchain (7:18) Start

215. Setting Up Routes to Add Nodes (7:40) Start

216. Adding a Remove Node Route (5:17) Start

217. Adding "get_Nodes" to get all Nodes (1:19) Start

218. Attaching a Node User Interface (11:07) Start

219. Running Multiple Nodes (11:19) Start

220. Sending Requests from within Python (10:36) Start

221. Broadcasting Transactions - Adding the Function & Route (12:06) Start

222. Broadcasting Transactions - Testing & Fixing Errors (5:51) Start

223. Broadcasting New Blocks: Adding the Function & Route (11:12) Start

224. Broadcasting New Blocks: Informing the Peer Nodes (9:53) Start

225. Broadcasting Transactions: Testing (3:28) Start

226. Solving Conflicts (5:32) Start

227. Understanding Consensus (3:28) Start

228. Finding Conflicts (9:34) Start

229. Implementing a Consensus Algorithm (17:20) Start

230. Testing Consensus (5:49) Start

231. Wrap Up (1:01) Start

232. Useful Resources & Links (1:00) Start

Section: Next Steps and Course Roundup

233. Module Introduction (0:46) Start

234. Don't Forget PEP 8 (2:46) Start

235. Using PEP 8 (8:29) Start

236. Using Comments (1:01) Start

237. Diving Deeper Into Python (5:07) Start

238. Improving the Blockchain (10:02) Start

239. Congratulations (0:57) Start

240. Further Links (1:00) Start

Course Instructor

Maximilian Schwarzmüller

As a self-taught professional I really know the hard parts and the difficult topics when learning new or improving on already-known languages. This background and experience enable me to focus on the most relevant key concepts and topics. My track record of many 5-star rated courses, more than 1,000,000 students worldwide as well as a successful YouTube channel is the best proof for that.

The most rewarding experience for me is to see how people find new, better jobs, build awesome web applications, work on amazing projects or simply enjoy their hobby with the help of my content. That's why, together with Manuel Lorenz, I founded Academind to offer the best possible learning experience and to share the pleasure of learning with our students.