Python Microlearning: Your 2-Week Beginner Guide

This schedule is designed to build momentum. Every day requires exactly 10 minutes. By breaking Python concepts into small, focused chunks, you maximize retention and minimize burnout.

The Rules for Success

  • No Cheating: Do not skip days. Consistency is far more valuable than intensity.
  • No Copy-Pasting: Type every single character of the code. Your fingers need to learn the muscle memory of the syntax.
  • Platform: Use an online compiler like Replit or Programiz (search "Online Python Compiler") so you don't waste time installing software yet.

Week 1: Data & Interaction

Goal: By Sunday, you will build a script that asks a user questions and tells a story (a "Mad Libs" game).

(In the original guide, a chart of Python data types was included here.)

Day Topic The 10-Minute Task
Mon Print & Strings Code: print("Hello World") and print('I am learning').
Task: Try printing a sentence using double quotes "" and another with single quotes ''. See if it breaks if you mix them (e.g., "text'").
Tue Variables Code: name = "Gemini" followed by print(name).
Task: Create three variables: first_name, pizza_topping, and city. Print them out one by one.
Wed Integers & Math Code: x = 10 and y = 5. Print x + y, x * y, and x / y.
Task: Calculate how many minutes are in a year using Python (365 * 24 * 60). Print the result.
Thu f-Strings Code: age = 30. Print f"I am {age} years old".
Task: Take the variables from Tuesday and print a full sentence: f"My name is {first_name} and I like {pizza_topping}."
Fri Input() Code: user = input("What is your name? ") then print(f"Hello {user}").
Task: Ask the user for their favorite color. Store it in a variable. Print "Wow, [color] is nice."
Sat Type Conversion Concept: input() always gives a String (text). To do math, you must convert it.
Code: num = int(input("Enter a number: ")). Print num + 10.
Sun Mini-Project The Mad Libs Generator:
1. Ask user for a noun, a verb, and a number.
2. Store them in variables.
3. Print a funny story using f-strings inserting those variables.

Week 2: Logic & Lists

Goal: By Sunday, you will build a program that makes decisions based on data (a "Password Checker").

(In the original guide, a flowchart of the If/Else logic was included here.)

Day Topic The 10-Minute Task
Mon Booleans Concept: True and False.
Code: Print 10 > 5 and 10 == 10. Note: == checks equality, = assigns value.
Task: Guess the output of print(5 != 5) before running it.
Tue If Statements Code: if 5 > 2: (press enter, ensure indentation) print("Five is bigger").
Task: Create a variable battery = 10. Write an if statement that prints "Low Battery" if battery is less than 20.
Wed Else & Elif Code: Add else: to yesterday's code to print "Battery OK".
Task: Make a temperature variable. If > 30 print "Hot", elif > 20 print "Nice", else print "Cold".
Thu Lists (Create) Code: fruits = ["apple", "banana", "cherry"]. Print fruits.
Task: Make a list of your top 3 movies. Print the list.
Fri Lists (Access) Concept: Computers start counting at 0.
Code: Print fruits[0] (gets apple) and fruits[-1] (gets the last item).
Task: Print the middle movie from your list using its index number.
Sat List Methods Code: fruits.append("orange") adds to the end. fruits.pop() removes the last one.
Task: Start with an empty list todo = []. Add 3 tasks using .append(). Print the final list.
Sun Mini-Project The Password Checker:
1. Set a variable secret = "python123".
2. Ask user for input: guess = input("Password: ").
3. Use if guess == secret: to print "Access Granted".
4. Use else: to print "Access Denied".

How to Handle "The Wall" (Mid-Journey Pitfalls)

Around Day 9 or 10 (If/Else logic), beginners often hit a wall where the logic feels abstract. This is normal!

  • If you get stuck: Do not expand the time to 30 minutes. Instead, repeat the same 10-minute lesson the next day. The repetition helps the concept sink in.
  • If you finish early: Do not jump ahead. Spend the remaining minutes breaking your code intentionally (e.g., remove a parenthesis or colon) to see what the error looks like. Understanding errors is crucial for debugging.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

XSLT to the Rescue

XSLT TO THE RESCUE The immense amount of work that I have had in the recent months kept me away from this blog for much longer than I would wish, but also forced me to brush up some skills that I started acquiring long ago. I had so much work that I was forced to subcontract a large part of it. One of the projects that I needed to subcontract required that the translator followed the provided terminology strictly. I had a multiterm termbase, but how do I provide that to a translator who only uses Cafetran?  The termbase had entries in many languages and also entries flagged as blacklisted. Fortunately, you can export the whole termbase from Multiterm in tbx (termbase exchange) format. Cafetran can read TBX, but the file still contained all the redundant languages and blacklisted terms, and as much as I like Cafetran, it is too dumb for that. But there is this thing called XSLT, which is used to transform XML files into other XML files or other formats. And TBX is basically ...
Read more
Python 3 script for Deepl Translator Pro Among the MT (machine translation) providers Deepl is the new kid on the block, but it has been making waves ever since it appeared. Frankly speaking, as soon as I found out how good the Deepl MT is, I actually abandoned Google Translate. If I am to pay for a service, I'll pay for the one which delivers better results. Before Deepl announced the paid Pro service, there was (and still is) the free Python module called pydeepl. It used to work until recently, but the ‘backdoor’ making it possible to programmatically get free translations in the era of the paid service has recently been plugged. (For the record, I subscribed to the paid service as soon as it appeared). There also is a Deepl Translator plugin for SDL Trados Studio. It is quite simple and almost no settings, except for the API key, can be entered. My Python script for pydeepl was more sophisticated, for example I added a replacement table for cases where I did not like Deep...
Read more
MY JOURNEY TO THE CLOUD No, I am not going to write about the end-of-this-earthly-life experience expected by followers of many religions. I mean the ‘computing cloud’. Ever since I got a computer with Internet access, I used electronic mail. Initially, because dial-up Internet access was costly in Poland (and probably elsewhere) I used an e-mail client with SMTP and POP protocols to check for new mail and then disconnect. So, effectively, all e-mail messages were stored locally in my personal computer. To preserve those important ones I had to make backup copies, and if there was a computer crash, some would be lost. Of course you could choose not to delete downloaded messages from the server, but then you'd eventually be over the server quota. This habit of having an e-mail client software installed (somehow it was never Outlook) was one to die hard, even when I learned about the IMAP protocol where messages stay on the server by default. I kept using Thunderbird mail, eve...
Read more