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Module 1 · Getting Started

Introduction to Programming

Before a single line of Python, the basics that everything else rests on: what a program actually is, why we invented programming languages, and how your code becomes something a computer can run. Every idea here is animated — watch it happen.

Begin lesson 1 →
  1. 1How a computer program worksA program is a list of instructions the computer follows in order.→
  2. 2Natural languages vs programming languagesWhy human language is ambiguous and code has to be exact.→
  3. 3What makes a languageAlphabet, vocabulary, syntax and meaning — for English and for Python.→
  4. 4Machine language vs high-level languageThe 0s and 1s the CPU runs, and the readable code we write instead.→
  5. 5Compilation vs interpretationTwo ways to turn your code into something the computer can run.→
  6. 6What does an interpreter do?Reading, checking and running your program one line at a time.→
  7. 7Compilation vs interpretation: pros & consSpeed, portability, debugging and distribution — side by side.→