Do you get stressed while trying to learn Python? Do you prefer to build small programs or projects as you continue your coding journey? This week on the show, Real Python author Stephen Gruppetta is here to talk about his new book, “The Python Coding Book.”

Stephen has been teaching Python to adults and children for many years. With his new book, he wants to share the relaxed and friendly learning environment he’s developed. We discuss using analogies to explain programming concepts and constructing complete programs as chapter goals.

Over the last year, Stephen focused on writing. He started his newsletter, The Python Coding Stack, wrote more tutorials for Real Python and authored the book.

This episode is sponsored by Mailtrap.

Course Spotlight: Python Basics: Code Your First Python Program

In this video course, you’ll write your first Python program. Along the way, you’ll learn about errors, declare variables and inspect their values, and try your hand at writing comments.

Topics:

00:00:00 – Introduction
00:02:32 – Education and programming background
00:05:50 – Developing a teaching style
00:10:36 – A friendly and relaxed programming book
00:14:31 – Making mistakes
00:18:29 – Sponsor: Mailtrap
00:19:03 – What was your curation process like?
00:21:22 – First chapter building an actual program
00:25:08 – Glossary terms and exercises
00:27:48 – Why feature an IDE?
00:34:07 – Monty and the White Room analogy
00:37:46 – What, no turtle?
00:42:21 – Video Course Spotlight
00:44:00 – Shift toward teaching
00:46:50 – Teaching adults and children
00:51:23 – Python sequences tutorial
00:53:48 – Building community and social media
00:58:12 – What are you excited about in the world of Python?
01:00:49 – What do you want to learn next?
01:03:07 – Thanks and goodbye

Show Links:

Level up your Python skills with our expert-led courses:

Support the podcast & join our community of Pythonistas

02.13.25 One Glorious Wake