Your first real program, in about 15 minutes.

Python is the language most beginners start with. This free lesson walks you through installing it the right way on Windows (the 2026 python.org download page included), checking it worked, and running a small script that counts the files in a folder.

What you’ll learn

• What Python is and what a “script” is
• Installing Python step by step, and fixing the two most common install problems
• Running a .py file from the terminal
• Reading a short script line by line
• Changing it and running your own version

What you get

• A step-by-step lesson with real screenshots
• A 30-second explainer video
• count_files.py and a sample folder to try it on

Who it’s for: beginners who’ve done What is the terminal?

Time: about 15 minutes (most of it is the install).

Next lesson: What is a virtual environment?