Week 0 · About 2 hours, before the clock starts

Getting your computer ready

Install the two pieces of software you will use for the next nine months, and prove they work.

Do this once, then never think about it again. Nothing here teaches you anything about programming — it just clears the desk so you can start.

Why this stage exists

Setup problems are the most common reason people give up in week one. They feel like failure but they are not: they are plumbing. Getting them out of the way now, as a separate job, means that when you sit down to actually learn, nothing is in your way.

What you are learning — 2 topics

What Python actually is

Python is a language for writing instructions to a computer. You write them in a text file, and a program called the Python interpreter reads that file and does what it says.

Think of it likeThink of the interpreter as a translator who reads your instructions aloud to the machine, one line at a time.

When you install Python, you are installing that translator. Your own code is just a plain text file ending in .py — there is nothing special about the file itself.

Some languages make you run a separate step called compiling before your code can run, which turns the whole program into machine instructions in one go. Python does not. You save the file and run it. That shorter loop between writing something and seeing what it does is a real advantage while you are learning.

Python is not a toy language. It runs large parts of Instagram, most scientific computing, and nearly all machine-learning work. You are not learning something you will throw away.

Where you meet it in real softwareWeb backends, data analysis, automation scripts, scientific research, and virtually all modern AI tooling.

Go and read

Download PythonDocsThe official installer. On Windows, tick the box that says “Add Python to PATH” — without it, your terminal will not find Python.python.org/downloads

What a code editor is for

A code editor is a text editor that understands code. It colours things so mistakes stand out, warns you before you run something broken, and can run your program for you.

You could write Python in Notepad. You should not. An editor catches a whole class of small mistakes — a missing bracket, a misspelt name — before you ever run the program.

VS Code is free, works the same on Windows and Mac, and is what a large share of working programmers actually use. The Python extension is what teaches it Python specifically, so install both.

Later, in weeks 7–9, the same editor gives you a debugger — a tool that pauses your program mid-run so you can look inside it. That turns out to be worth far more than the syntax colouring.

Where you meet it in real softwareThe editor is where you will spend essentially all of your time for the next nine months.

Go and read

Download VS CodeDocsThe editor itself. Free, no account needed.code.visualstudio.com Python extension for VS CodeDocsInstall this after VS Code. It adds Python understanding, running, and debugging.marketplace.visualstudio.com/items VS Code Python setup walkthroughDocsStep by step with screenshots. Go here first if anything above does not work.code.visualstudio.com/docs/python/python-tutorial

Build these yourself

Reading about this stage is not the same as finishing it. Type every one of these from a blank file rather than copying — the writing is the part that teaches.

Prove Python is installed

Open a terminal — Command Prompt or PowerShell on Windows, Terminal on Mac — and type: python --version. You should see a version number printed back, something like 3.13.1. If you see an error instead, Python is either not installed or was installed without being added to PATH. Reinstall and tick that box.

Make a folder called learning-python

Put it somewhere you will find it again. Every file you write for the next nine months lives in here. Open that folder in VS Code with File then Open Folder, so the editor knows where your work is.

Run one line of code

In that folder, make a file called hello.py containing exactly this: print("hello"). Run it. Seeing the word hello appear proves that every piece — Python, the editor, the extension — is connected correctly. That is the whole point of this week.

You are done with this stage when

Exit checkYou can open your learning-python folder in VS Code, create a new .py file, run it, and see its output — without looking up how.

If you cannot do this, repeat the stage rather than moving on. Nothing later gets easier by skipping it.

This stage corresponds to Phase 0 — Setup in the source roadmap.