Welcome

[MUSIC] 0:00 Hi, I'm Craig, and I'm a developer. 0:09 This course is going to introduce you to the wonderful programming 0:11 language, Python. 0:14 There are absolutely no prerequisites for this course. 0:15 This is intended to be the beginning of your Python journey. 0:19 It's gonna be awesome. 0:21 I'm excited for you. 0:22 Python is such a wonderful language to start with. 0:24 It's been designed to be clean and easy to read. 0:26 If you're coming from another programming language, 0:29 you'll find the simplicity of this language just delightful. 0:31 If this is your first programming language, you're in for a lot of fun. 0:35 You'll get the opportunity to think in ways that you've most likely 0:38 never thought before. 0:40 You'll challenge yourself to grow, learn, and create in new and fun ways. 0:42 Python is a general purpose language, 0:46 which means it can be used to build just about anything. 0:49 The US government uses Python to do statistical analysis and 0:54 data visualizations. 0:57 Spotify, Evernote, and OkCupid rely on Python for 0:58 personalized recommendations and other artificial intelligence-based tasks. 1:01 Disney, Pixar, Lucasfilm, and 1:07 others use Python to provide more realistic effects in their movies. 1:08 Large familiar websites like YouTube, Instagram, Reddit, Pinterest, and 1:13 even the Onion lean on Python. 1:17 You can use Python for face and speech recognition. 1:19 You can control robots and shoot lasers, send an email when your doorbell rings, 1:21 and just about anything you can imagine. 1:25 So what do you say we get started learning this incredible language. 1:29 Oh shoot, wait a second. 1:33 Before we get too excited, and I go too fast, I'd like to take a moment and 1:34 let you get familiar with your learning environment. 1:37 There's speed controls on the video player. 1:40 You should totally feel free to speed me up or 1:42 slow me down to your heart's content. 1:45 If you miss something I said, please, feel free to scrub the video back and 1:47 make me repeat myself. 1:51 Now, unlike a typical in-person classroom, here at Treehouse, 1:52 you are in complete control of your learning session. 1:55 Attached to each video, there are detailed teacher's notes. 1:58 I'll do my best to point out when there's something in there that you just 2:01 have to see. 2:04 But try to get in the habit of checking that area for 2:05 juicy bits of additional knowledge. 2:07 Another thing I want you to remember is that you aren't taking this course alone. 2:10 Although they probably aren't sitting right next to you, 2:14 many of your fellow students are taking this course right now. 2:16 And chances are they'll be having many of the same emotions that you're bound to be 2:19 experiencing as you pick up this language. 2:23 Please make use of the community. 2:25 It's amazing, and you're part of it. 2:27 It's yours. 2:29 If you have a question, please ask it. 2:30 You'll be surprised how quickly you'll receive a friendly and helpful answer. 2:32 And also, a great way to make your learning stick is to explain a concept or 2:36 a solution that you just learned. 2:40 You'll probably surprise yourself with how quickly you'll sound like a pro. 2:42 I'll bug you more about this as you progress. 2:45 But please make sure to check out the forum and 2:47 hang out with your fellow students answering their questions. 2:49 It's a win-win. 2:52 I'll pop in there too quite a bit. 2:53 And there's also an amazing team of moderators who are here to help. 2:54 We should talk a bit about what learning a programming language 2:58 is most likely going to feel like. 3:01 I'd love for you to approach this journey much like you would when you attempt to 3:05 learn a foreign language. 3:08 There are going to be a lot of new terms and concepts introduced. 3:10 And I want you to not stress about fully understanding everything all at once. 3:13 Just like you wouldn't expect to be fluent after taking your first Spanish class, you 3:18 shouldn't expect to be able to understand all the code you see immediately. 3:23 Learning takes practice, both in Spanish and Python. 3:27 [LAUGH] Spanish speakers are typically more forgiving than computers. 3:30 But just like in your hypothetical Spanish class, 3:35 you can expect it to feel super good when you can actually 3:38 communicate your thoughts in your new language, and we'll get there soon. 3:41 So do this for me. 3:45 I want you to immerse yourself in the language. 3:45 I'll point out exactly what I think you need to focus on 3:48 at this part of your journey. 3:50 But again, please don't worry about knowing everything. 3:52 Remember, this is a journey, and you are just now beginning. 3:55 As you progress, 3:59 you'll start to notice that you're picking up quite a bit just through immersion. 4:00 In this course, we're going to explore the basics of the Python language. 4:04 All of the concepts that you'll learn here are common in just about every programming 4:08 language that I can think of. 4:11 By the end of this course, 4:13 you'll build a ticket purchasing application for an event. 4:15 There will be loops, logic, error handing, and even some math. 4:18 What you're looking at here is called a command line application, and 4:22 this up here is our online code editor called Workspaces. 4:25 In just a short bit, you're gonna be able to write this code from scratch, wow. 4:29 Future you is pretty amazing, right? 4:34 So what are we waiting for? 4:36 Let's go get you up and running in your very own online code editor, Workspaces. 4:38

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