Part 1: What Is Python and Why Learn It? - Python for Beginners

[00:02] we're going to talk a bit about what exactly Python is. We're going to talk about what you can build with Python. We're going to try and do some practical building something that can actually do something. Basically, you're going to

[00:16] learn about Python in a very beginner-friendly way. My focus here is that people who might even struggle when it comes to just learning programming in general, need to be able to, you know, sort of follow this course here and

[00:28] learn what Python is. The first thing we're going to do is, since this is a introduction video, is to talk a bit about what exactly Python is. So, we're not really going to do any sort of programming in this particular video,

[00:40] know, further videos, we're going to start learning the basics. Then, you're going to start building something because one of the things that I believe language, you also need to be able to build something very early on, so you

[00:55] those things in that particular programming language cuz otherwise, and 10 episodes later, finally get to build something. And that's kind of a long time to wait until you actually get to building something. So, the first

[01:10] about what you need to have installed on your computer in order to get started using Python. The first thing you need is to have a text editor because we need to write code and to write code, we need a text editor. Visual Studio Code is

[01:24] very popular for just general-purpose programming. I use it for pretty much Uh but we do also have a very specialized Python-specific text editor called PyCharm. That one is also something you could look into, but this

[01:37] is more for if you're planning on primarily focusing on being a Python developer, then PyCharm is really good. I will go ahead and leave a pinned comment with Visual Studio Code in case you want to install

[01:50] just go below the video and find that particular link. Uh the next thing you're going to need is a terminal. And this is where things change a little bit because depending on if you're on Linux, Mac, Windows, you're going to have

[02:04] different things. You know, there is always a terminal, no matter what operating system you're sitting on. Uh, in my case, because this is Windows, I do have something called PowerShell. So, if I go ahead and open Windows

[02:18] PowerShell, you can see that we have this terminal. There's also the more basic version, which is the command prompt window. So, if you go down to prompt window. So, if you go down to search and type CMD, you can see we get

[02:30] PowerShell, I just recommend using that one instead. And if you're sitting on terminal. And if you're sitting on Mac, there's also going to be a terminal. I think it's just called terminal. Just type terminal in the search field, a

[02:43] what you're going to be using for for these lessons here. And I'm just about the terminal because it is something that scares some people who are new at programming. Now, the terminal is basically just a way for you

[02:57] to access your computer and also to ways like you can install software, you can can see information about your computer. It's basically just a place where you can type in some commands in order to do

[03:09] things instead of having to go in and click on things. And it can even do more click on things. And it can even do more things than the graphics user interface of whatever operating system you're using might be able to do. So, in this

[03:23] case here, it's just a much easier tool. It's everything included in one place. You can go in, you can access folders, you can install things, especially since we're going to be setting up something called a virtual environment for Python,

[03:35] which sounds advanced, but it's really not. It's super easy and super simple, but it is something that we're going to need the terminal for. So, a terminal is before, you are going to be familiar with it in

[03:50] this course here. And if you're looking at this thinking, "Oh, okay, this is way too advanced. There must be an easier way to do it." No. This is how we do it. This is how programmers do it. So, using a terminal is something that if you want

[04:03] to be a programmer, you just have to kind of learn how to use because it's a kind of learn how to use because it's a core part to use a terminal if you are a programmer. Like that's just how things are. It's like saying, "Oh, I want to

[04:15] learn Photoshop, but I have to learn how to use the computer first." So, you have to learn how to use the terminal in order to learn how to program most programming languages out there. But really, the key point here is I don't

[04:27] want people to worry cuz the terminal looks terrifying. It's not. And I know have a lot of experience with the the comments section saying, "Daniel, why are you like making such a big deal

[04:39] should be like basics for people getting started with this course here." Um but no, there's a lot of beginners out there who thinks the terminal is new, it's it's looks old. Like why are we typing commands like this instead of just like

[04:54] clicking on folders? Like this is terrifying for some people. So, we have to talk about it. I just have to debunk the scariness of it. It's not terrifying when you actually get started using it. Uh it's actually pretty simple. So,

[05:07] let's go ahead and talk a bit about what exactly Python is. Because Python is at this moment and last year and the year before that is the most popular

[05:20] programming language in the world right now. And it is for a good reason because it is what we consider to be a multi-purpose programming language, which basically means that you can build pretty much most things using Python. If

[05:32] you want to get into AI programming, machine learning, websites, games, apps machine learning, websites, games, apps for mobile phones, console applications, uh software for Windows, Linux, and Mac. Everything you can think of, you can

[05:48] pretty much build using Python. So, it's one of those languages that if you have learned Python, you can pretty much build whatever your imagination might think of. You know, it's it's a really cool language. It is a very simple to

[06:00] type language, which is also something we're going to talk a bit about. Uh Python was actually not named after the snake Python, you know, because we have a python snake type. It's actually named after Monty Python's uh Flying Circus,

[06:16] which is a British comedy show that came out back in the '70s or something. That is actually kind of a joke, because Python is designed to be very simple when you code it, and sounding like basically

[06:31] just talking English. Uh so, there's a lot less syntax, there's not, you know, so many symbols and weird things that you have to put into it when you program it. Uh it's basically just designed to be a simple and talking language like as

[06:45] possible. Which is kind of the joke behind the whole Monty Python thing, cuz it's a it's a British I don't know, like sketch comedy show. thing if you open the documentation for Python, there's actually like this

[06:57] little joke section inside the documentation that says, "Do you have to like Monty Python's Flying Circus to enjoy Python?" And it says, "No, but it helps." It's just kind of like a fun little joke thing. But just to kind of

[07:09] screen, I'll put some code that does the exact same thing in Python, and in, for example, C#. Just so you can see the differences there, like how less of a code you need to write in Python compared to any other programming

[07:23] language, like, for example, C#. But now, let's talk a bit about why should you learn Python over, for example, other programming languages, cuz, you multi-purpose programming language, so you can build everything using Python.

[07:37] Well, why does other programming languages then exist if Python can do everything pretty much. Python is what you call a top-level program language. down you get, the closer you get to machine level, like hardware level

[07:51] inside your computer. And languages like, for example, C++ is very close to hardware level, which means that they're very optimized and very fast. So, if my goal is specifically on building Windows applications, you know, that's

[08:06] my only goal, then Python is a good prototyping tool because it's very fast to write. But if you have to build a final version and you're specifically final version and you're specifically like a professional Windows software

[08:20] programmer, then C++ might be better, you know, but Python can also do the same thing, but it's going to be slightly more slower because it's higher up when it comes to, you know, being a top-level

[08:34] programming language. Does this mean that you should not use Python for Absolutely not, cuz you can very easily do it. It's still going to run fast. It's not going to have any issues. But

[08:46] It's not going to have any issues. But if your client has a very specific goal and it's a huge company and they say this has to be as fast as possible and, they need to have cuz this is a multi-million dollar business or

[08:59] something, then they might want you to build something using C++ instead. If it's a If it's a regular company and they just need an application, uh that slight difference in speed isn't maybe not as important to them. Python

[09:12] maybe not as important to them. Python is very much a viable tool to to use for building software for that kind of thing. And just to mention it, AI, I kind of a thing that has popped up within the past

[09:25] couple of years. AI programming is a very important thing when it comes to Python because Python is one of the main tools used for AI programming. Essentially, what you can do is you can install a large language model down to

[09:39] your computer, then you can build an AI agent that basically is built using Python that communicates with this AI brain and basically allow for you to build a AI application where this Python program you made is using AI as part of

[09:53] most important argument for why you should learn Python as your first programming language is that Python is going to land you the most jobs in the world right now. So if you know Python, there's going to be more job openings

[10:08] than other programming languages. It is beginner-friendly, it is cross-platform, it is a free and open-source language that you can learn how to use. So there's basically no reason not to learn Python. So with all that said, we've

[10:21] is, why should you learn Python, what can you build with Python. In the next actually install Python and set it up on your computer so you can just get started with it. It's fairly easy, but you know, depending on if you're sitting

[10:34] on Linux, Windows, Mac, it's going to be done in slightly different ways. So I done in slightly different ways. So I will have a video coming up that will show you how to do that. Uh when it comes to Linux and Mac, I

[10:46] will have everything kind of like step-by-step written down inside the description of the video. Uh but for Windows, I will show you how to just simply set it up inside Windows. Like I'll actually show you my screen

[10:58] recording and everything. Um it's not too complex, but just know that I don't have a Mac computer. I do have a Linux computer, but it's not hooked up to my recording stuff here, so. So with all that said, again, I hope

[11:11] course for you to follow. This is going to focus a lot on beginners understanding how to program. So hopefully that is what makes you watch my course compared to other courses. So with that said, I hope

[11:25] you enjoy it and I'll see you guys next time.