A practical programming course for office workers, academics, and administrators who want to improve their productivity.

Automate the Boring Stuff with Python Programming

Name: Gentle Programming Introduction with Automation Trade-offs
Rating: 6.2

InstructorAl Sweigart

Duration9h 31m

Students1.2M

Rating4.7 (119.5K)

Gentle Programming Introduction with Automation Trade-offs

Strengths

Clear Instructional Delivery

The early stages of the course offer a well-structured, step-by-step introduction to programming fundamentals like variables and operators.

Practical Automation Scope

The curriculum covers diverse practical applications including web scraping with Beautiful Soup and Selenium, as well as spreadsheet and document manipulation.

Limitations

Technical Obsolescence

Multiple signals suggest that later sections contain deprecated functions or code that may not function correctly with modern Python versions.

Best suited to

Absolute beginners seeking a gentle introduction to programming
Office workers looking for basic scripting concepts
Learners who supplement video instruction with the companion book

Less suited to

Those requiring up-to-date third-party library integration
Learners seeking deep object-oriented programming (OOP) concepts
Students expecting frequent practice exercises or quizzes

Comidoc Score

6.2/10

Worth considering

Beginner-friendly

Comidoc verdict

The course provides a highly accessible starting point for those with no prior programming experience. The initial modules excel at breaking down fundamental concepts into manageable, step-by-step lessons that build confidence through practical examples of web scraping and document handling.

However, the value of the instruction diminishes in later sections where technical debt becomes apparent. Learners have encountered deprecated code and issues with third-party library compatibility, suggesting that the material may not align perfectly with current Python environments without external troubleshooting.

This path is best suited for absolute beginners who use the course as a conceptual primer alongside the latest edition of the companion book to ensure technical accuracy.

Score breakdown

Curriculum depth: 6.5
Applied learning: 5.8
Clarity & experience: 8.0
Currency & reliability: 2.0
Audience fit: 8.0

Editorial course preview

What the public course preview actually shows

This view highlights a concrete, legible example from the course presentation.

A screenshot of a web browser displaying a table of contents for a Python programming course, listing topics like Introduction, Flow Control, Web Scraping, and Working with Excel. — Preview 1 of 1
This table of contents outlines the curriculum structure, covering foundational concepts like flow control and practical applications such as web scraping and file organization.

Coupon history

Comidoc has tracked 3 coupons for this course since 2025, last checked 5 months, 19 days ago. On average, a new coupon appears roughly every 137 days.

Coupon code	Discount	Added	Status	Lifetime
APR2026CODE	40% off	May 16, 202605:56 PM UTC	Expired	7d 20h
NOV2025CODE	$19.99	Nov 11, 202502:10 PM UTC	Expired	26d 4h
SEP2025CODE	100% off	Sep 26, 202504:04 AM UTC	Expired	~4 daysRan full term