Short lessons, real Python in your browser and instant feedback. Follow a program from your first line of code to tested projects and a certificate an employer can verify.
1# Greet each person on the list2def greet(name):3return f"Hello, {name}!"4people = ["Ada", "Linus", "Grace"]6for person in people:7print(greet(person))8
Programs
A program chains courses in the order a working developer would learn them, from your first line of Python to capstone projects you can show.
Go from your first line of code to job-ready Python developer.
Where it gets you: Apply for junior Python developer roles with the skills and projects to back it up.
Servers, databases and APIs that power real products.
Where it gets you: Design, build, secure and deploy a database-backed REST API.
In the works: Frontend Developer, Web Design and Data Analyst. Courses you finish now carry over.
How it works
Every lesson is a few minutes of reading and a run of exercises you solve yourself.
A brief explanation with a concrete example, then straight into exercises. Most lessons fit in a coffee break.
Every code exercise has a full editor and console running real Python. Nothing to install, nothing to configure.
Tests run in about a second. A wrong answer shows what was expected, what you got and where to look.
Passing work is graded a second time on our servers before it counts, so a finished course and a certificate mean something.
Earn XP for every exercise, level up from Novice to Architect and keep a daily streak. Progress you can see, without the noise.
Mixing formats trains different skills: writing, reading, debugging and recall.
Try it now
No account, no install. Change a name or a score, add a line, then press Run.
1# Edit anything, then press Run.2scores = {"Ada": 92, "Linus": 78, "Grace": 85}3ranked = sorted(scores.items(), key=lambda kv: kv[1], reverse=True)5for name, score in ranked:6bar = "#" * (score // 10)7print(f"{name:<6} {score:>3} {bar}")8average = sum(scores.values()) / len(scores)10print("Average:", round(average, 1))11
Proof of skill
Finishing a course is a start. PNL Learn also gives you evidence someone else can check.
Finish a program and you get a certificate with its own public page, plus a signed credential anyone can check. It follows the Open Badges 3.0 standard, so an employer can verify it with any Open Badges verifier instead of taking our word for it.
Each program ends with capstone projects: complete, tested codebases you build yourself. Publish one to your own GitHub account in one click, with a working test suite that runs on every push.
Every course is aligned to recognized references: the Python Institute PCEP and PCAP exam syllabi and the ACM CS2023 computer science curriculum. Each course lists the objectives it covers.
Proto Node Labs is not affiliated with or endorsed by the Python Institute or ACM.
Questions
Yes. Create a free account and start the first course right away.
No. Python runs in your browser, inside the lesson. You need a modern browser and nothing else, on a laptop or a phone.
Finish a program and you get a certificate with a public page and a signed Open Badges 3.0 credential anyone can check, plus capstone projects you can publish to your own GitHub.
No. Any course you have not started has a placement test: 10 questions, including code you write and run. Pass with 80% and every code question solved, and the course is credited toward your program, so you start where you actually are.
37 courses with 248 lessons and 2732 exercises, across the Python Developer and Backend Developer programs. New courses are added as they are finished; nothing is listed as live until every exercise in it has been run and checked.
37 courses are live and waiting. Create a free account and pick up the first lesson.
