Getting Started: Python Fundamentals
Python for Everybody
Author: Charles Severance
Link: https://www.py4e.com
A gentle introduction widely used in universities. Includes free videos, an online textbook, and auto-graded exercises. Excellent for absolute beginners with no prior programming experience.
Codecademy – Learn Python
Link: https://www.codecademy.com/learn/learn-python-3
Interactive browser-based learning with immediate feedback. No installation required—good for students who want to start coding right away.
Economics-Focused Resources
QuantEcon
Authors: Thomas Sargent & John Stachurski
Link: https://quantecon.org
The gold standard for economists learning Python. Covers everything from basic programming to dynamic programming, computational methods, and economic modelling. Highly recommended, but more advanced on the economics side of things.
Coding for Economists
Author: Arthur Turrell
Link: https://aeturrell.github.io/coding-for-economists
A free online book that explicitly bridges programming and economics. Covers Python basics, data wrangling with pandas, visualisation, and introductory econometrics.
Introduction to Python for Econometrics, Statistics and Data Analysis
Author: Kevin Sheppard (University of Oxford)
Link: https://www.kevinsheppard.com/teaching/python/notes/
A comprehensive reference text. More technical than the others but excellent for students who want depth, particularly in statistical and econometric applications.
Practice and Reinforcement
Kaggle Learn
Link: https://www.kaggle.com/learn
Short, practical micro-courses on Python, pandas, and data visualisation. Kaggle also hosts numerous economics-related datasets for hands-on practice with real data.