10 Best Python Courses, Classes and Certifications Online

When we talk about programming languages, Python is one of the most popular choices in 2019. This invention by Guido van Rossum is one of the most sought-after languages in the realm of programming and embraced by a large community of coders. The popularity of Python is not surprising because of the easiness to pick-up the language and the efficiency of the code. That is why we wrote this post. If you want to learn Python from scratch or are someone who wants to understand the language deeper, then this post is exactly for you. Scroll down to find the best Python online courses offered and choose one that fits your needs.

This post contains affiliate links. For more information, visit my disclosure page.

Best Python Courses

1. Python for Everybody Specialization
2. Introduction to Python: Fundamentals
3. Complete Python Bootcamp: Go from zero to hero in Python 3
4. Techdegree: Python Development
5. Automate the boring Stuff with Python
6. The Python Bible™ | Everything You Need to Program in Python
7. Python 3 Programming Specialization
8. The Modern Python 3 Bootcamp
9. Introduction to Python: Absolute Beginner
10. Python 3 Complete Masterclass

Python for Everybody Specialization

This Python online course offered by the University of Michigan aims to introduce you to the basic programming concepts of using the Python programming language. It will teach you the fundamentals including data structures, application programming interface and a whole lot more, which definitely will come in handy.

Overall, there are five courses in this online specialization that will help you become a master in this programming language. You can directly enroll in the Specialization or you can pick an individual course. There will be multiple hands-on projects in each specialization, which you will be required to complete in order for you to earn a certification. The courses are taught by Dr. Charles Severance, a clinical professor, and a true master of tech courses at the University of Michigan School of Information.

The 5 Courses in this Specialization:

Course 1: Programming for Everybody (Getting Started with Python)

The main objective of this Python online course is to teach you the basics of programming with Python. You will be able to learn how to create a program using a series of easy instructions. This class will cover Chapters 1-5 of the textbook “Python for Everybody.” If you are just getting started also checkout the top computer science classes to learn the basics of CS.

Things you will learn in this course:

• Understand what it means to write programs and get an overview of the Python programming language, its syntax and semantics
• Learn how to install, use and write your first program in Python
• Discover how a program utilizes your computer’s memory to store, calculate, and recover information
• Learn how to use core programming tools and their functionality

Course 2: Python Data Structures

In this course, you will move beyond the fundamentals of procedural programming and receive an introduction to the core data structures of the Python programming language. You will explore how to use the Python built-in data structures to make you achieve complicated data analysis. This course will include Chapters 6-10 of the “Python for Everybody” textbook.

Things you will learn in this course:

• Learn more about Python programming, syntax and semantics
• Find out how to finish multi-step tasks such as looping and sorting with the use of tuples
• Discover the ways of creating a program that can read, write, scan and process data from files
• Learn how to write and test Python programs using the Python Code Playground
• Explore the process of storing data as key pairs using Python dictionaries

Course 3: Using Python to Access Web Data

The aim of this course is for you to learn about how you can use the internet as a source of data. You will use different techniques such as scraping, parsing, and reading web data. This time, the course will comprise of Chapters 11-13 of the textbook. You will also cover Python 3 in this course.

Things you will learn in this course:

• You will learn how to work with XML, JSON, and HTML data formats in Python
• Learn how to use regular expressions to search strings and how to extract data from it
• Find out about the rules that web browsers use to retrieve web applications and documents
• Discover the process of retrieving and parsing XML data
• Learn how to utilize JavaScript Object Notation (JSON) in working with APIs and Web Services

Course 4: Using Database with Python

This course will teach you the basics of SQL which is a domain specific language used to make and manage data in relational databases. Also, this course will go over the fundamentals of web crawlers and teach you more about data acquisition and visualization. This course covers Chapters 14-15 in the textbook “Python for Everyone” and Python 3.

Things you will learn in this course:

• You will learn the rudiments of Object Oriented Python
• You will discover how to use SQL and SQLite
• Learn how to manage data stored in a database using four CRUD operations (Create, Read, Update, Delete)
• Find out how data is stored across various tables in the database
• Learn how to retrieve and process data to utilize the Google Maps API

Course 5: Capstone: Retrieving, Processing, and Visualizing Data with Python

In this course, which is a capstone project, you will build sets of applications that can retrieve, visualize and process data. All the previously learned materials will be included in the projects. These projects will help you familiarize yourself with the new technology, so that you can create your own projects. The textbook “Python for Everyone”, especially Chapters 15 and 16, will surely be a great guide to succeed in this course.

Things you will learn in this course:

• You will learn how to run email data visualization
• Learn how to pick and process your data
• Find out how to properly utilize Unicode characters and strings
• You will understand the fundamentals of building a search engine

Introduction to Python: Fundamentals

This course is a continuation of the knowledge you have obtained from the “Introduction to Python: Absolute Beginner” course which is a prerequisite for this program. The online course is part of the Microsoft Professional Program in entry-level software development. In this course, you will dig deeper into Python data structures, learn to work with strings, range sequence, and lists. At the end of this course, you will be able to perform various Python tasks such as slicing strings into substrings, creating and iterating lists, importing files and a whole lot more. This course is available on EdX and taught by Eric Cam.

Things you will learn in this course:

• Learn the fundamentals of Python 3
• Discover the ways to create, read and write to files
• Learn how to work with sample code in Jupyter Notebooks

Complete Python Bootcamp: Go from zero to hero in Python 3

This Python online course is a great way to jumpstart your career in Python. Many topics from the fundamentals to your own application and games, will be addressed. Not only that, but the exercises and supplementary materials make a great addition.

This online class is available on Udemy and taught by Jose Portilla, a data scientist and founder of Pierian Data International. There are 500,000 students currently enrolled in his course.

Things you will learn in this course:

• Learn all about Python 2 and 3
• Discover how to create games such as Blackjack and Tic Tac Toe using Python
• Learn how to work with timestamps
• Understand the basics of decorators
• Learn how Jupyter Notebooks work and how to create GUIs inside of them
• Discover how to use Object-Oriented Programming

Techdegree: Python Development

The Python Techdegree program is built to help you launch a successful career as a Python developer. At the end of this “degree” and after completing 24 courses, 12 projects, and a plethora of quizzes and challenges, you will certainly gain a job-ready understanding in the field of python programming.

This course is available on Treehouse’s Techdegree program and taught by the best in-house and guest teachers Treehouse can offer.

Things you will learn in this course:

• Find out more about HTML and CSS
• Learn the fundamentals of Python
• Understand the basics of HTTP
• Learn how to utilize REST API
• Find out how to use Django and Heroku for Web Apps

Automate the boring Stuff with Python

If you want to make a tiresome task a lot easier and make your computer more useful during crunch times at work, then you must consider taking this course. Python programming can make even repetitive tasks a lot easier and efficient for you. This online course follows the well-known book Automate the Boring Stuff with Python. The book and course are designed to help you write programs to automate simple tasks.

This Python online class is available on Udemy and taught by Al Sweigart, author and master of the Python programming language. There are over 130,000 students enrolled in his course.

Things you will learn in this course:

• Learn how to write simple programs that can automate tasks
• Learn how to pull data from online sources by crawling websites
• Find out how to write programs that can generate and update Excel spreadsheets
• Learn how to analyze Word and PDF files
• Create programs that can do text pattern recognition
• Learn how to automatically send emails and notifications using Python
• Automate your mouse and keyboard

The Python Bible™ | Everything You Need to Program in Python

This course is for those who want to learn the basics of Python and later transition into Web Development or Data Science. However, if you are already a seasoned developer then you might find this course not that interesting because it is primarily targeted at beginners.

You can find this online course on Udemy and it is taught by Ziyad Yehia, an instructor that specializes in Python and Linux. Currently, there are more or less 60,000 students enrolled in this course.

Things you will learn in this course:

• You will learn to create your own Python 3 apps
• Develop an understanding of Object-Oriented Programming
• Find out how to develop custom Python functions and automate coding tasks
• Learn how to track data in Python programs
• Learn how to build programs using data structures and logic

Python 3 Programming Specialization

If you want to become a Python programmer, learning the basics is extremely important. This specialization will teach you the fundamentals of programming using Python 3. You will learn about variables, conditionals, loops, keyword parameters, lambda expressions, list comprehensions, and other intermediate subjects. This specialization is a good follow up if you have completed the “Python for Everbodody” online courses. In addition, this class will be a great if you want to proceed with Data Science with Python. This specialization also has five courses.

You can enroll in this course at Coursera and it is lectured by several Python programming professors from the University of Michigan School of Information including Paul Resnick, Jaclyn Cohen, Steve Oney, and Christopher Brooks.

5 Courses in This Specialization:

Course 1: Python Basics

Duration: Approx 17 hours

This Python online course aims to introduce the fundamentals of Python programming which include iteration and conditional execution as control structures and lists and strings as data structures. It will cover Chapters 1-9 of the “Fundamentals of Python Programming” textbook. The textbook is optional and free for everyone who wishes to enroll in this course. So if you are new to Python or someone who needs a refresher then this is what you need.

Things you will learn in this course:

• Explore the fundamentals of Python with Runestone textbook which is an interactive online textbook specifically built for this course
• Discover how to write complex programs that will produce drawings by combining loops
• Learn about Boolean which is a Python data type
• You will become familiar with Binary and Chained conditionals
• Find out how to use accumulation pattern

Course 2: Python Functions, Files and Dictionaries

Duration: Approximately 17 hours

This course is suitable for you if you are able to complete the “Python Basics” program and want to obtain a broader understanding of the Python language. Here, you will learn about dictionary data structures as well as user-defined functions. This is a solid refresher on the basics and a good course if you are hungry for more.

Things you will learn in this course:

• Learn how to incorporate files into your program as a supplementary source of data
• Discover how to read from a file, write to a file, and work using the .csv data format
• Find out the mechanics of dictionaries
• Learn the construction of functions and dig deeper into tuples
• Find out more about advanced iteration mechanism
• Discover how to sort Python objects

Course 3: Data Collection and Processing with Python

Duration: Approximately 10 hours

This course will be a whole lot easier to grasp if you have completed the previous courses. If you already know the Python fundamentals, but want to practice how to recover and process complex data from internet, then this course is for you.

Things you will learn in this course:

• Learn how to work with JSON formatted data
• Find out how to process nested data with the use of nested iteration
• Discover how you can derive values from nested data
• Learn how to use map, filters and list comprehensions
• Know how to request data from the internet with the use of APIs
• Learn how to work and read other APIs

Course 4: Python Classes and Inheritance

Duration: Approximately 8 hours

If you have completed the previous three courses, then you are ready to take this course. This online course will teach you more in-depth knowledge about the Python language. This time you will find out how to utilize classes, inheritance, and instances.

Things you will learn in this course:

• You will learn about Python classes and inheritance
• Find out how to add parameters to the constructor and other methods to a class
• Learn how to convert an object to a string
• Discover how you can override built-in methods
• Learn how you can create inherited classes

Course 5: Python Project: pillow, tesseract, and opencv

Duration: Approximately 12 hours

This is the final course in the Python 3 Specialization and it will walk you through different projects that you can build for your portfolio. You should only attempt this online course if you have gone through the previous courses. Furthermore, this is also suitable for those who already have programming skills, but want more practice in this Python language.

Things you will learn in this course:

• You will learn how to inspect and comprehend APIs as wells third-party
• Find out how you to use the Python imaging library
• Discover how to utilize tesseract to identify text in images with the use of OCR
• Learn how to use opencv for recognizing faces in images
• Learn how to compare data structures

The Modern Python 3 Bootcamp

This course is quite different from the other Python online courses we discussed because this one is centered primarily around coding exercises. There are almost 200 interactive challenges you can complete. It is mainly focused on writing code, which for some is a much-preferred way to learn Python. It covers the same key topics of other Python courses including some advanced topics such as crawling, scrapping and testing.

This course is offered on Udemy and taught by Colt Steele. He is a developer, a boot camp instructor and was awarded Udemy’s Best New Instructor in 2016. There are 36,000 students currently enrolled in this course.

Things you will learn in this course:

• Python coding fundamentals
• How to create an automated web scrapper and crawler
• Learn how to use Python to make complex HTTP requests
• Discover how to write decorators
• Create your own generators and iterators
• Make a game with Python

Introduction to Python: Absolute Beginner

If you don’t have any experience with programming, but are interested in learning all the basics, then this course is for you. There are plenty of practice tasks for you using Jupyter Notebooks to master the basics. After taking this course, you can create simple programs that require users for input data and you’ll be able to use conditional logic.

This course is available at edX and taught by Eric Camplin who is a Senior Developer at Microsoft.

Things you will learn in this course:

• You will learn to utilize Jupyter Notebooks
• Learn how to gather inputs and manipulate inputs/outputs
• Discover how to use conditional statements and loops
• Create reusable functions with parameters

Python 3 Complete Masterclass

This is, by far, the most hands-on Python 3 online course on the Udemy platform. The course takes you through a large number of different exercises that will help you develop your Python Skills. Lectures are explained and discussed in the most empirical way. The videos included are packed with relevant examples that are formulated in a learning-by-doing manner.

You can take this course at Udemy and it is taught by Mihai Catalin Teodosiu, a Python Developer and Udemy’s Bestselling Instructor with over 1,500 5-Star reviews.

Things you will learn in this course:

• You will learn Python 3 key concepts
• Learn Excel, Network and Database automation
• Master data analysis and visualization
• Learn how to work with Python scripts, interpreter, lists, strings, and their methods
• Work using Python patterns and regular expressions
• Discover how to build a scientific and interactive calculator
• Learn how to work with Pandas to perform data analysis operations

The Python online courses included in this post will be a great start for your journey of becoming a Python master.
This craft, just like any other profession or discipline, it needs constant practice and countless hours of repetition to master. Nevertheless, I am confident you can do it. Good Luck!

If you are just starting your learning journey, here are more resources that you should check out such as R programming courses, machine learning classes and the best software testing courses.