Introduction

So you want to learn Python. You’ve come to the right place.

Python is widely regarded as one of the most beginner-friendly programming languages in the world. A huge number of security tools, automation frameworks, and pentesting utilities are written in Python.

There are several reasons for this:

It’s readable
It’s concise
It’s powerful
It’s easy to automate with

And yes — you can learn it.

Setting Up

First, we need to make sure Python is installed.

Check Your Version

python3 --version

python --version

You should see something like:

Python 3.11.2

If not, install it.

To install on Debian/Ubuntu:

sudo apt update
sudo apt install python3 python3-pip

To install Python on Windows, visit this page and choose the 64-bit installer. Here is a direct link to the Windows installer: Windows

Hello World

Create a file called 'hello.py' and add the following:

print("Hello, World!")

To run your python file, simply enter:

python3 hello.py

You should see:

Hello, World!

Congratulations. You’ve just written your first Python program.

Variables

Variables store data.

name = "Alice"
age = 25
height = 5.7

Python automatically infers the type.

print(type(name))   # <class 'str'>
print(type(age))    # <class 'int'>
print(type(height)) # <class 'float'>

Data Types Common data types: · str – text · int – whole numbers · float – decimal numbers · bool – True / False Example: is_admin = True

Strings

Strings are sequences of characters.

message = "Hello, World!"
print(message)

String Methods text = " Hello, World! "

print(text.upper()) print(text.lower()) print(text.strip()) print(text.replace("World", "Python")) print(text.split(","))

Startswith / Endswith clean = text.strip() print(clean.startswith("H")) # True print(clean.endswith("!")) # True

Basic Operators x = 10 y = 3

print(x + y) print(x - y) print(x * y) print(x / y) print(x % y)

Comparison operators: print(x == y) print(x != y) print(x > y) print(x < y) print(x >= y) print(x <= y)

Conditional Logic age = 18

if age >= 18: print("You are an adult.") else: print("You are a minor.")

Indentation matters. Python typically uses 4 spaces.

Loops For Loop for i in range(5): print(i)

While Loop count = 0

while count < 5: print(count) count += 1

Functions Functions allow reuse. def greet(name): print(f"Hello, {name}!")

greet("Alice")

Lists Lists store multiple values. tools = ["nmap", "burp", "metasploit"]

for tool in tools: print(tool)

Dictionaries Dictionaries store key-value pairs. user = { "username": "admin", "role": "superuser" }

print(user["username"])

Final Thoughts Python is not about memorizing syntax. It’s about understanding patterns. If this feels like a lot, that’s normal. Nothing here needs to be memorized. The goal is familiarity. The more you practice, the more it sticks. And yes — you can absolutely learn this. Stay consistent.