The provided source material details the availability of a free online resource for learning Python programming, specifically targeting beginners with no prior experience. The resource is a book and accompanying video course titled Automate the Boring Stuff with Python, authored by Al Sweigart. The information focuses on the educational content, its structure, and access methods, rather than on commercial product samples or promotional offers. The following article synthesises the available details about this programming resource.
Overview of the Resource
Automate the Boring Stuff with Python is described as a free online book and video course designed for beginners. The primary goal is to teach users how to employ Python for automating repetitive tasks. Examples of tasks covered include renaming files, scraping websites, and managing spreadsheets. The resource is positioned as a tool for productivity, enabling users to complete tasks in minutes that would otherwise take hours by hand.
The content is structured to be accessible to individuals with no prior programming experience. Early chapters introduce the fundamentals of Python through clear explanations and examples. The book and course are presented as a comprehensive guide to becoming productive with Python, with lessons covering programming Excel spreadsheets, crawling websites, parsing PDFs and Word documents, and sending emails.
Content and Structure
The resource exists in multiple formats to suit different learning preferences. These include a free online book, a video course, and a workbook designed to reinforce the concepts through practical exercises.
The Book (3rd Edition)
The third edition of the book is available to read online for free under a Creative Commons license. This edition includes updated and new content compared to previous versions. The new material is focused on modern tools and techniques relevant to automation. Key updates include:
* Guidance on using Large Language Model AIs, such as ChatGPT, for learning to code, including common pitfalls to avoid.
* Speech recognition using OpenAI's Whisper library to create text transcriptions from audio and video files.
* Optical Character Recognition (OCR) to extract text from images using PyTesseract.
* Creating PDFs from images with embedded OCR text using the NAPS2 application.
* Downloading videos from YouTube and other websites using yt-dlp.
* Compiling Python scripts into executable programs for Windows, macOS, and Linux using PyInstaller.
* Sending push notifications to a phone via the service at https://ntfy.sh.
* Working with XML files, in addition to JSON and CSV data.
* Creating graphs with matplotlib.
* Copying and pasting images to the clipboard with pyperclipimg.
* Simplifying regular expressions with the Humre module.
A specific command, pip install automateboringstuff3, is provided to install the latest version of all modules covered in the book that are compatible with the code examples. This command was updated on June 20, 2025.
The Video Course
An online video course is available that follows the content of the first edition of the book. A discount code offering 70% off is available through a specific link. The first 15 course videos are available for free preview on YouTube.
The Workbook
A companion workbook is available that transforms the book's content into a coding experience. The workbook follows the book chapter by chapter and is designed to help users turn concepts into muscle memory through exercises, projects, and real Python scripts. It includes carefully sequenced questions and projects. At the end of each chapter, users tackle miniprojects that bring concepts together. Projects include renaming files, scraping websites, converting text to speech, modifying spreadsheets, sending emails, image generators, and word games.
Access and Eligibility
The online book is freely accessible to all users without any sign-up or payment requirement, as it is released under a Creative Commons license.
For the video course, a 70% discount code is available via a specific link. The source does not specify any eligibility criteria for applying this discount.
A review copy of the book or workbook may be available under specific conditions. The offer states that individuals who have made at least $50 in purchases in an Amazon account and can write reviews may request a review ebook copy in exchange for an honest review. A form is available to be contacted about receiving a review copy of either the main book or the workbook.
Additional Resources and Support
The author, Al Sweigart, has been writing programming books for beginners since 2009. The author's blog contains more news and content. For questions about the third edition, users are directed to post on the /r/inventwithpython subreddit.
The author also created a simple, offline flashcard app called TSOFA (The Simple, Offline, Flashcard App), which exists as a single HTML file viewable in a browser. This is presented as an alternative to more complex flashcard applications.
Conclusion
The primary resource detailed in the source material is Automate the Boring Stuff with Python, a free educational programme for learning Python automation. It is available as a free online book under a Creative Commons license, with a video course available at a discount and a workbook for practical exercises. The content is beginner-focused and has been updated to include modern tools like AI assistance, speech recognition, and video downloading. Access to the core book is unrestricted, while specific offers for discounted video courses and review copies are available under stated conditions.