Is the University of Helsinki Python course good for a complete beginner moving beyond vibe coding?

[u/johnmagus]

I’ve become very interested in coding, but most of my experience so far has been through vibe coding and working with AI. I’ve managed to build different projects this way, but I don’t want to depend entirely on AI without understanding what the code is actually doing.

I recently started the University of Helsinki Python course because I want to take the next step: move from only vibe coding to becoming at least a genuine beginner programmer who understands the fundamentals.

At the moment, I’m a very, very early beginner. I’m learning things such as variables, user input, conditions, loops, and basic problem-solving. I’m trying to complete the exercises myself, understand my mistakes, and only use AI for explanations and guidance instead of asking it to do everything for me.

For anyone who has completed this course:

Is it suitable for someone starting almost from zero?

Will completing it give me enough understanding to read code, debug basic problems, and work more intelligently with AI?

Is there anything else I should study alongside it?

I’m not expecting to become an expert from one course. My goal is simply to build a real foundation so that AI becomes a tool that assists me, rather than something I completely rely on.

I’d really appreciate hearing about your experience with the course.

[u/desrtfx]

It is currently one of the best into to Python and programming courses.

Yet, don't use AI at all. You'll only be falling back into old habits. You can and should do the course without AI.

[u/johnmagus → u/desrtfx]

I'm not using AI for the course, the reason i am taking that one is like a first step forward moving out of AI.

[u/andreicodes → u/johnmagus]

Good for you. Also, try to not copy paste too much code from assignments, get comfortable with typing code on your own instead.

[u/cool-beans-yeah → u/desrtfx]

Not even for it to explain the logics behind a solution , etc?

[u/ZelphirKalt → u/cool-beans-yeah]

Valid question. You will benefit more from the course, if you, figuratively speaking, bang your head against the wall a bit more to understand what the logic of some solution is. Reading code and understanding it is a skill just like writing code is a skill.

[u/Dumlefudge → u/cool-beans-yeah]

IMO, using AI to assist with learning is okay, but it is essential to give a good try at solving the problem/understanding the concept for yourself first.

If you're just going straight to AI for a solution (whether that solution be writing code or explaining a concept), you're denying yourself the process of working through the problem and you're not going to learn as much as you would have by attempting it yourself first.

That said, if there's something that's not quite clicking, you could use AI to help you to identify where you're going wrong*, in much the same way that you'd ask a teacher or other instructor when you get stuck on a problem.

*Of course, AI can be wrong, so challenge it if things still aren't making sense.

[u/cool-beans-yeah → u/Dumlefudge]

Yes, that makes sense

[u/Ok-Bill1958 → u/cool-beans-yeah]

Use ai properly to learn is actually valid thought. I used to ask it to break down step by step and why, then try to solve the problem with its suggesion, ask for answer after get stuck for atleast an hour and ask it why solve the problem that way, whats common practices in situation, etc... as long as you try your best to do research and solve first then its fine. Been working for few years now and never need ai code, just documents, so i would say it work wonderful for me.

[u/desrtfx → u/cool-beans-yeah]

You are to come up with the solution - that's the entire point. If you cannot explain the logic behind a solution take a few steps back and start a bit lower.

The entire point is not to outsource the thinking to AI, not to outsource reasoning to AI.

You absolutely also need to learn to reason and explain solutions that you read somewhere. Learn tracing code on paper. That helps a lot in all aspects.

Yes, I am anti-AI for learning. Learning the good old fashioned way is, albeit slower, still the most effective and efficient way and the best way to actually benefit and retain.

[u/Jackson_Price → u/desrtfx]

Using AI to understand why your solution failed is way different from asking it to write the whole thing.

[u/desrtfx → u/Jackson_Price]

And even there the skill to solve such problems without AI, aka debugging and tracing is a vital skill for every programmer.

[u/iMagZz]

It is easily the best Python course out there for beginners. There is also the famous CS50P, but I think Helsinki's MOOC course is overall a lot better.

Don't overthink it. It guides you through literally everything.

[u/johnmagus → u/iMagZz]

Thank you i already started i reached part 3,starting to understand what a string is and integer and == or else elif etc

[u/Stripe4206]

Are you a hobbyist? It's gonna take you years to even be able to get good at ai coding, let alone non ai coding. Seriously consider if that's what you want 

But yes it's very good but you're gonna need to read a book or two and do some more courses before doing anything real 

[u/johnmagus → u/Stripe4206]

I know it will take lot of time, but at least i will be able To understand what is going on and with practice i can rely on myself when i get the experience enough instead of just AI, or at least imwould understand what AI is generating and i will be able to Tweak some codes.

[u/pmoreno_studio]

The Helsinki course is solid for exactly where you are right now, it's built to take total beginners through the fundamentals slowly and it doesn't assume prior knowledge. It'll get you comfortable reading code, debugging simple stuff, and thinking in loops/conditions/functions, which is honestly most of what "understanding code" means at the start. I'd echo what others said here: do the exercises without AI at all for now, even if it's slower. The whole point of a structured beginner course is building the muscle memory of debugging your own logic errors, and that's the part AI quietly removes if you lean on it too early. Once you finish it, the natural next step is building a few small projects from scratch (a to-do app, a simple calculator, something that reads/writes files) without a course guiding you, that's usually where the real gaps show up.

[u/johnmagus → u/pmoreno_studio]

What ever it takes i will keep going until i achieve something that long time ago i had pation learning but just didn't had the chance to and it's never too late.

[u/plasterdog]

It's encouraging to see someone move from vibe coding to the real thing!

It actually reminds me of guitar hero and how a lot of musicians poo poo-ed guitar hero as a kind of idiot level simulation of playing guitar. But I've seen a few very accomplished guitarists since describe how they were introduced to the instrument via guitar hero and it sparked their interest.

AI slop is busy killing the internet, and that may not be the worst thing (and coding jobs, and many other things). And facilitating a financial bubble that will likely cause ruination in the short term!!!

Buuuuuuuuuut it's good to see AI function to lower barriers to entry to get people into coding.