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by incision 4726 days ago
I'm in a very similar position.

If you really like Codeacademy, there are non-track exercises that involve Python in the API section [0] and a couple of Python challenges [1][2] that aren't listed.

What I'm doing now:

* Solving exercises on Project Euler in Python. [3]

* Working through each example in the Python Cookbook[4]. It was just updated to the third edition.

* Watched Guido's Painless Python talks from a few years ago [5]. I found his concise explanations of language features really helpful.

Some things I intend to do:

* Finish working through Collective Intelligence [6]. The examples are written in Python.

* Work through Introduction to Algorithms [7]. The course uses Python.

* Read, understand and give a shot at extending Openstack [8] code.

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0: http://www.codecademy.com/tracks/apis

1: http://www.codecademy.com/courses/python-intermediate-en-NYX...

2: http://www.codecademy.com/courses/python-intermediate-en-VWi...

3: http://projecteuler.net/

4: http://amzn.com/1449340377

5: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bDgD9whDfEY

6: http://amzn.com/0596529325

7: http://ocw.mit.edu/courses/electrical-engineering-and-comput...

8: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OpenStack

2 comments

Aren't Project Euler's exercises seem more likely maths exercises? It's kinda difficult for those who graduated from social sciences and tries to learn programming from scratch.
>Aren't Project Euler's exercises seem more likely maths exercises?

Project Euler does involve a math, but so does efficient programming.

Efficiency can seem a pretty abstract thing and it might not crop up right away in more typical programming tasks. Working a Euler problem and refining to a solution that runs in 1% or 0.001% of the time required for the most straightforward solution is a great demonstrator.

>It's kinda difficult for those who graduated from social sciences and tries to learn programming from scratch.

Sure, but the context of the question here isn't really from scatch. The OP has already completed at least the 296 exercises in the Python track at Codeacademy to establish a base.

Personally, I haven't graduated from anything and I treat the Euler exercises as an interesting way to practice/learn a bit of programming and math.

The Green Tea Press books are great; and free.

Think Python: How To Think Like a Computer Scientist http://www.greenteapress.com/thinkpython/thinkpython.html

Think Complexity: Exploring Complexity Science with Python : http://www.greenteapress.com/compmod/

Think Stats: Probability and Statistics for Programmers : http://www.greenteapress.com/thinkstats/index.html

Yep. Project Euler is a waste of time if you're trying to get up to speed in learning programming.
You can search announced, in progress, future, self-paced, and finished MOOCs (Massive Open Online Courses) with class-central.com : http://www.class-central.com/search?q=python