Programming Basics: online course with internship agreement
Programming Basics teaches you to write and debug Python, query databases with SQL, version your work with Git and GitHub, and use an AI coding assistant without trusting it blindly. It is designed for beginners with no programming background, including non-native English speakers. You study 100 % online for 180 days, at your own pace. An internship agreement is included, and the course costs €200.
- 180 days of access
- 100 % online, at your own pace
- Level: beginner · No programming experience required
- Assessment: 10 quizzes (50 questions) and a final project
- Internship agreement included
- Certificate with a verifiable QR code
- Languages: Spanish, English, French
- Price: €200
Who it is for
- Complete beginners who want to start programming with Python
- Office and operations staff who want to replace repetitive spreadsheet work with short scripts
- People working in English as a second language who need to read code and error messages
- Anyone building a first GitHub portfolio before applying for junior technical roles
What do you need to start?
Prior knowledge
- No prior programming knowledge is needed: you write your first line of code in topic 3
- Enough English to read short technical messages; reading error messages in English is taught in the course
- Basic computer use: installing a program, working with files and folders
Software and equipment
- A computer and an internet connection
- Permission to install software on your computer (admin rights), as on a personal laptop
- VS Code with the official Python extension published by Microsoft; third-party extensions with similar names are not needed
- A GitHub account for publishing your repositories and portfolio project
What you'll be able to do
- Set up a code editor and terminal, then run Python scripts and read English error messages
- Write Python programs that use variables, types, conditionals and loops to automate repetitive decisions
- Organise data with lists and dictionaries and structure code into your own functions
- Read and explain an unfamiliar Python file before changing it
- Trace a traceback to its cause and write assert checks that catch silently wrong results
- Write SQL queries with SELECT, WHERE and INNER JOIN and predict which rows they return
- Use Git and GitHub to version your work and publish documented portfolio projects
- Prompt, review, verify or reject code generated by an AI assistant
Skills you will practise
- Python
- Debugging and tracebacks
- SQL SELECT, WHERE, JOIN
- Git and GitHub
- Pull requests
- Conventional Commits
- VS Code
- AI-assisted coding
- GDPR and EU AI Act basics
Syllabus
- What programming actually is today, and what an AI assistant does for you — Programming as giving a computer precise instructions and checking the results, and which parts of the work still depend on you rather than an AI.
- Your working setup and reading error messages in English — Install VS Code with the official Python extension, use the terminal, run your first script and decode error messages in English.
- Python fundamentals: variables, types, conditionals, loops — Store values, make decisions with if and repeat actions with for and while to automate tasks such as discount and shipping rules.
- Collections and functions — Handle many values with lists and dictionaries and write reusable functions instead of hard-coding one variable per item.
- Reading someone else's code without the author — Work through a stranger's Python file line by line and understand what it does before touching it.
- Debugging and verification: from traceback to a written check — Fix crashes such as KeyError from the traceback, and catch scripts that run without errors but produce wrong figures.
- The SQL you will actually be asked about — Write and read SELECT, WHERE and INNER JOIN queries, distinguish = from LIKE and avoid cartesian products and careless SELECT *.
- Git, GitHub and the portfolio that replaces experience — Commit, clone, pull and use pull requests, and build a GitHub profile with a few finished, clearly documented projects.
- Working with an AI assistant: prompt, review, verify, reject — Use a code assistant in your editor, check its output with tests and reading, reject what is wrong, and consider licensing questions.
- Your first open-source contribution and EU rules for your code — Go from fork to merged pull request, build a portfolio project with a README and learn how GDPR and the AI Act apply.
Internship agreement
An intern with this course could automate repetitive spreadsheet tasks in operations, sales operations or reporting with short Python scripts, and pull data from databases with SQL queries. They could also review and test existing scripts, write verification checks for reports and keep work versioned in Git and GitHub, including checking code drafted by an AI assistant before it is used.
The internship can run at the same time as the course, within the 180 days of access.
Frequently asked questions
Do I have to memorise a programming language before I can do anything useful?
No. Programming Basics starts by dismantling the idea that programming means memorising keywords, much like learning a foreign vocabulary. Programming is about giving a computer precise instructions and checking whether it did what you expected. The course builds that habit step by step: reading error messages, reading other people's code, debugging, and verifying results with written checks. Syntax comes with practice and is not something you learn by heart first.
If AI assistants can write code in seconds, is it still worth learning to program?
The course treats the AI assistant as a tool you must manage, not as a replacement. In Programming Basics you learn to prompt an assistant, review what it produces, verify it with tests and assert checks, and reject code that is wrong. You also learn that generated code can raise licensing questions. Understanding the problem and confirming that a result is correct remain your responsibility, and the course trains exactly those skills.
Which tools and standards does the course cover?
You work in Python using VS Code with the official Microsoft Python extension, and in SQL with SELECT, WHERE and INNER JOIN. You use Git and GitHub for commits, cloning, pulling, forks and pull requests, and write commit messages in the Conventional Commits format. You also use an AI coding assistant. The final topic explains which EU rules already apply to code, namely the GDPR and the AI Act, including the high-risk obligations deferred by the 2026 Digital Omnibus.
What do junior technical interviews actually test, and does the course prepare me for them?
According to the course materials, a junior technical interview in an international team mainly tests reading unfamiliar code, debugging under pressure and explaining your own decisions, including what an AI assistant did and what you checked yourself. It does not mainly test memorised syntax. Programming Basics covers each of these skills, and you finish with a portfolio project on GitHub: a documented Python script that processes a dataset and can optionally be queried with SQL.
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Content updated: 07/10/2026