I'm completely new to programming, aside from a tiny bit of C# experience. So far, I've used Claude to generate small Python projects for school, including a JSON-based flashcard app and a task manager with a local AI assistant. I've mostly installed the generated code and made small tweaks, but I don't really understand how the code works yet. I'm starting to recognize basic Python concepts and want to learn how to write and understand programs myself rather than relying on copy-and-paste solutions. Eventually, I'd like to build an app that tracks my school subjects, marks, weak areas, and progress over time, displays the results in graphs, and uses a local AI model to interpret the data and offer personalized advice. What learning path, exercises, or resources would you recommend?
4 Answers
Automate the Boring Stuff with Python is another approachable resource for beginners because it teaches the basics through practical projects. Short practice problems on sites such as CodingBat or Exercism can also help. Try not to measure progress by how quickly you finish a product; concentrate on understanding variables, conditionals, loops, functions, data structures, files, and error handling first.
For learning, stop having AI write the solutions for you, at least while you’re building the fundamentals. Treat programming like a school subject: learn a concept, do exercises, and then apply it in a small project. Your larger tracking app can come later, but first focus on turning problems into steps and implementing those steps yourself.
You don’t necessarily have to ban AI forever, but change how you use it. Ask for explanations, hints, debugging questions, or feedback on code you wrote yourself—not complete solutions. Make sure you can explain every line in plain English, then try a similar problem without assistance. That way AI becomes a tutor instead of a replacement for the problem-solving part of programming. Also, keep doing small standalone exercises so you aren’t trying to learn Python fundamentals while building a full data-analysis application.
Would it be reasonable to use AI to proofread my code and point out improvements without rewriting it? I’d like feedback while still doing the actual implementation myself.
Yes, that’s a much better use. Ask it to identify bugs, explain error messages, or suggest areas to investigate, but require it to leave the code unchanged and make you decide how to fix it.
The University of Helsinki’s free Python Programming MOOC is a strong starting point. Follow the lessons in order, read the explanations, complete every exercise, and compare your solutions with the official ones afterward. Once you’re comfortable with the basics, you could move on to introductory data science with Python and then a broader computer science course such as CS50. The important part is doing the exercises yourself rather than just watching lectures.
Thanks for the detailed recommendations. I’m going to start with the Python course and work through the exercises properly.
That makes sense. I mainly used AI to see what Python could build, but I’ll focus on learning the fundamentals instead of relying on it to create everything.