Python Mastery Roadmap.md

Python Mastery Roadmap — Beginner → Job-Ready Professional

Companion file: Python_Projects_and_Interview_Prep.md (200 projects, 100 interview Qs, 100 coding problems, LeetCode/HackerRank/Codewars/Project Euler tracks).

Table legend: ⏱ Time | 🎯 Difficulty | 🔑 Prereq Recurring channel/site links: Corey Schafer · freeCodeCamp · mCoding · ArjanCodes · NeetCode · Real Python · Exercism · Codewars · HackerRank

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STAGE 1 — FUNDAMENTALS

Topic	Free Resource	Docs	Practice	⏱	🎯
Install + VS Code/PyCharm setup	Corey Schafer – setup	python.org/downloads	Run "Hello World"	30m	Easy
Running programs (REPL vs script)	freeCodeCamp full course	docs.python.org/3/tutorial	—	30m	Easy
Variables & data types	Corey Schafer – Variables	Built-in types	Exercism Python track	1h	Easy
Input/output, f-strings	Corey Schafer – Formatting	PEP 498	Codewars 8kyu	1h	Easy
Operators & type conversion	freeCodeCamp	Expressions	HackerRank 10 Days of Python	1h	Easy
Strings & string methods	Corey Schafer – Strings	str methods	Codewars string kata	2h	Easy
Comments, basic debugging	freeCodeCamp	pdb docs	Debug 3 broken scripts	1h	Easy
Basic math ops	Corey Schafer channel	math module	Build a calculator	1h	Easy

Book: Automate the Boring Stuff (free, Al Sweigart). Stage total: ~8h | Mini project: BMI/tip calculator | Mistakes: = vs ==, input() returns str, indentation errors.

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STAGE 2 — CONTROL FLOW

Topic	Free Resource	Docs	Practice	⏱	🎯
if/elif/else, nesting	Corey Schafer – If Statements	Compound statements	Codewars 8kyu	1h	Easy
match-case (3.10+)	mCoding – match	PEP 636	Refactor an if-chain to match-case	1h	Med
for/while, range, enumerate	Corey Schafer – Loops	Loop constructs	HackerRank	2h	Easy
break/continue/pass	freeCodeCamp	same	Build FizzBuzz	1h	Easy
Loop patterns	—	—	Print patterns/pyramids	2h	Med

Stage total: ~7h | Mini project: Number-guessing game | Challenge: Text hangman | Compare: for (known count) vs while (condition-based).

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STAGE 3 — FUNCTIONS

Topic	Free Resource	Docs	Practice	⏱	🎯
def, parameters, return	Corey Schafer – Functions	Defining functions	Codewars	2h	Easy
Scope (LEGB)	mCoding – scope	Scopes & namespaces	Predict-output quizzes	1h	Med
Default/keyword args, *args/**kwargs	Corey Schafer	More on functions	Build a flexible logger function	2h	Med
Lambda functions	Corey Schafer – Lambda	Lambda expr	Sort dicts using lambda	1h	Med
Recursion	NeetCode – recursion	—	Exercism recursion exercises	3h	Med-Hard
Docstrings & type hints	Real Python – Type Checking	typing, PEP 257	Add type hints to Stage 1–2 code	1h	Med

Stage total: ~10h | Compare: recursion vs iteration | Mini project: temperature converter | Challenge: recursive maze solver.

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STAGE 4 — DATA STRUCTURES

Topic	Free Resource	Docs	Practice	⏱	🎯
Lists & methods	Corey Schafer – Lists	Lists	HackerRank	2h	Easy
Tuples	Corey Schafer – Tuples	same	—	1h	Easy
Sets	Corey Schafer – Sets	Sets	Dedup problems	1h	Easy
Dictionaries	Corey Schafer – Dicts	Dicts	Word-frequency counter	2h	Easy-Med
Comprehensions	Corey Schafer – Comprehensions	Comprehensions	Rewrite 10 loops as comprehensions	2h	Med
Nested structures, sort/search	Real Python – Sorting	sorted()	Sort dicts, nested JSON	2h	Med
collections module	mCoding – collections	collections	Rebuild script using Counter	2h	Med

Compare: List (mutable, ordered) · Tuple (immutable) · Set (unique, unordered) · Dict (key-value). Stage total: ~12h | Mini project: Contact book | Challenge: Word-frequency analyzer.

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STAGE 5 — FILE HANDLING

Topic	Free Resource	Docs	Practice	⏱	🎯
Read/write, with	Corey Schafer – File Objects	File I/O	Log parser	2h	Easy
CSV	Corey Schafer – CSV	csv	Parse a real CSV export	1h	Easy
JSON	Corey Schafer – JSON	json	Save/load app config	1h	Easy
Pickle	Real Python – Pickle	pickle	Serialize a custom object	1h	Med
Pathlib	mCoding – pathlib	pathlib	Rewrite os.path code	1h	Med
Directories, compression	Real Python – zipfile	shutil, zipfile	Batch-rename + zip a folder	2h	Med

Stage total: ~8h | Mini project: Bulk file renamer | Challenge: Folder backup + zip automation.

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STAGE 6 — EXCEPTION HANDLING

Topic	Free Resource	Docs	Practice	⏱	🎯
try/except/else/finally	Corey Schafer	Errors & exceptions	Handle 5 common errors	2h	Easy-Med
raise, assertions	Real Python – assert	raise	Input validator with asserts	1h	Med
Custom exceptions	mCoding – exceptions	User-defined exceptions	InsufficientFundsError	1h	Med
Logging basics	Corey Schafer – Logging	logging	Replace all prints with logging	2h	Med

Mistake: bare except: hides bugs. Stage total: ~6h | Mini project: Robust upload validator | Challenge: Custom exception hierarchy for a bank app.

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STAGE 7 — OBJECT-ORIENTED PROGRAMMING

Topic	Free Resource	Docs	Practice	⏱	🎯
Classes, __init__	Corey Schafer OOP series	Classes	Build a Car class	2h	Med
Instance vs class vars	Corey Schafer OOP pt.2	same	—	1h	Med
Methods, encapsulation	Corey Schafer OOP pt.3	—	Private attrs + properties	2h	Med
Inheritance & polymorphism	Corey Schafer OOP pt.4	—	Animal → Dog/Cat hierarchy	2h	Med
Abstraction (ABC)	mCoding – ABC	abc module	Abstract Shape class	1h	Med-Hard
Composition vs inheritance	ArjanCodes	—	Refactor inheritance-heavy design	2h	Hard
Magic/dunder methods	Corey Schafer – Magic Methods	Data model	__str__, __eq__, __add__ on Vector	2h	Hard
Dataclasses	mCoding – dataclasses	dataclasses	Convert 3 classes to @dataclass	1h	Med

Stage total: ~13h | Compare: inheritance ("is-a") vs composition ("has-a") | Mini project: Library system | Challenge: Bank account system.

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STAGE 8 — MODULES & PACKAGES

Topic	Free Resource	Docs	Practice	⏱	🎯
Import systems	Real Python – Modules	Modules	Split a script into modules	1h	Easy
Creating packages	Real Python – Packages	Packages	Make an installable package	2h	Med
Virtual environments	Corey Schafer – venv	venv	Isolated envs for 2 projects	1h	Easy
pip, requirements.txt	Corey Schafer – pip	pip.pypa.io	Freeze + recreate an environment	1h	Easy
pyproject.toml	Real Python	packaging.python.org	Package a CLI tool	2h	Med

Tool tip: uv or poetry over raw pip+venv. Stage total: ~7h | Mini project: Publish a small internal utility as a package.

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STAGE 9 — INTERMEDIATE PYTHON

Topic	Free Resource	Docs	Practice	⏱	🎯
Iterators & protocol	Corey Schafer – Iterators	Iterators	Custom iterator class	2h	Med
Generators & yield	Corey Schafer – Generators	Generators	Rewrite heavy function as generator	2h	Med-Hard
Decorators & closures	Corey Schafer – Decorators	Closures	Timing/logging decorator	3h	Hard
Context managers	mCoding	Context managers	Custom DB-connection context manager	2h	Hard
Regular expressions	Corey Schafer – Regex	re module	regex101.com testing; validate emails/phone	2h	Med
itertools/functools	mCoding – itertools	itertools, functools	Rewrite loops using chain, groupby	2h	Hard

Stage total: ~13h | Compare: generator (lazy) vs list (eager) | Mini project: @retry decorator | Challenge: Lazy data pipeline.

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STAGE 10 — ADVANCED PYTHON

Topic	Free Resource	Docs	Practice	⏱	🎯
asyncio	mCoding – asyncio	asyncio	Concurrent scraper with aiohttp	4h	Hard
Threading	Corey Schafer – Threading	threading	Multi-threaded downloader	3h	Hard
Multiprocessing	Corey Schafer – Multiprocessing	multiprocessing	CPU-bound parallel task	3h	Hard
Memory & GC	mCoding	gc module	Diagnose a memory leak	2h	Hard
Profiling & optimization	mCoding – profiling	cProfile	Profile + speed up a slow script	2h	Hard
Metaclasses & descriptors	ArjanCodes	Metaclasses	ORM-style descriptor	3h	Very Hard

Stage total: ~17h | Compare: threading (I/O, GIL-limited) vs multiprocessing (true parallel CPU) vs asyncio (I/O concurrency) | Mini project: Async scraper | Challenge: Thread-pool image resizer.

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STAGE 11 — DATA STRUCTURES & ALGORITHMS

Topic	Free Resource	Docs/Ref	Practice	⏱	🎯
Arrays, linked lists, stacks, queues	NeetCode	Grokking Algorithms	LeetCode Easy	6h	Med
Trees, heaps	NeetCode – Trees	—	LeetCode tree tag	6h	Med-Hard
Graphs (BFS/DFS, Dijkstra)	NeetCode – Graphs	—	LeetCode graph tag	8h	Hard
Hash tables	NeetCode	—	Two-sum family problems	2h	Med
Sorting/searching	Abdul Bari	—	Implement quicksort/mergesort/binary search	4h	Med
Recursion & backtracking	NeetCode – Backtracking	—	N-Queens, permutations	4h	Hard
Dynamic programming	NeetCode – DP	—	Climbing stairs → knapsack	8h	Very Hard
Greedy algorithms	NeetCode	—	Interval scheduling	3h	Hard
Big-O complexity	NeetCode – Big O	—	Analyze your own solutions	2h	Med

Stage total: ~43h — pace over weeks. Curated list: NeetCode 150.

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STAGE 12 — TESTING & CODE QUALITY

Topic	Free Resource	Docs	Practice	⏱	🎯
unittest	Corey Schafer	unittest	Test a calculator module	2h	Med
pytest (industry standard)	Real Python – pytest	docs.pytest.org	Convert unittest suite to pytest	2h	Med
Mocking	Corey Schafer – Mocking	unittest.mock	Mock an API call in tests	2h	Med-Hard
Coverage	coverage.readthedocs.io	same	Get a project to 90% coverage	1h	Med
Linters/formatters	Ruff docs	PEP 8	Lint + format 3 old projects	2h	Easy-Med

Stage total: ~9h | Mini project: Tested + linted calculator package | Challenge: CI-ready tests for a past project.

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STAGE 13 — DATABASES

Topic	Free Resource	Docs	Practice	⏱	🎯
SQL fundamentals	freeCodeCamp SQL	sqlite.org/docs	SQLZoo · Mode SQL tutorial	4h	Med
SQLite	Corey Schafer – SQLite3	sqlite3	Build a CRUD CLI app	3h	Med
MySQL / PostgreSQL	freeCodeCamp PostgreSQL	psycopg.org	Connect Python to Postgres	3h	Med-Hard
SQLAlchemy / ORM	Real Python – SQLAlchemy	docs.sqlalchemy.org	Rebuild CRUD app with ORM	4h	Hard
Database design	freeCodeCamp DB design	—	Schema for a bookstore app	3h	Med

Stage total: ~17h | Mini project: Todo-app with SQLite | Challenge: Full CRUD API + PostgreSQL + SQLAlchemy.

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STAGE 14 — APIs & NETWORKING

Topic	Free Resource	Docs	Practice	⏱	🎯
HTTP, REST principles	freeCodeCamp – APIs	MDN HTTP	—	2h	Med
requests library	Corey Schafer – requests	requests.readthedocs.io	Consume a public API	2h	Med
JSON handling	Real Python (Stage 5 link)	json	Parse nested API responses	1h	Easy
Auth: OAuth, JWT	freeCodeCamp – JWT	jwt.io/introduction	Token-based auth flow	3h	Hard
FastAPI	Official tutorial	fastapi.tiangolo.com	Build a CRUD API	5h	Med-Hard
WebSockets	FastAPI WS guide	same	Live chat backend	4h	Hard

Stage total: ~17h | Mini project: Weather CLI | Challenge: JWT-authenticated FastAPI + WebSocket feed.

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STAGE 15 — WEB DEVELOPMENT

Topic	Free Resource	Docs	Practice	⏱	🎯
Flask	Corey Schafer Flask series	flask.palletsprojects.com	Build a blog app	8h	Med
Django	freeCodeCamp Django	djangoproject.com	Full CRUD site w/ auth	12h	Med-Hard
FastAPI (web angle)	Official tutorial	same as Stage 14	API-first web app	6h	Med-Hard
Templates (Jinja2)	Corey Schafer (same channel)	jinja.palletsprojects.com	Template a multi-page site	2h	Easy-Med
Auth & sessions	Corey Schafer Flask-Login series	Flask-Login	Add login/signup to blog	4h	Hard

Stage total: ~32h | Compare: Flask (minimal) vs Django (batteries-included) vs FastAPI (async/API-centric) | Mini project: Personal blog | Challenge: Django e-commerce site.

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STAGE 16 — AUTOMATION & SCRIPTING

Topic	Free Resource	Docs	Practice	⏱	🎯
Selenium	Corey Schafer – Selenium	selenium.dev/documentation	Automate login + form fill	3h	Med
BeautifulSoup	Corey Schafer – Scraping	crummy.com/BeautifulSoup	Scrape a news site	2h	Med
OpenPyXL, pandas automation	Corey Schafer – OpenPyXL	openpyxl.readthedocs.io	Auto-generate Excel reports	3h	Med
Email automation	Real Python – smtplib	smtplib	Auto-send a report via email	1h	Med
PDF automation	pypdf.readthedocs.io	same	Merge/split/extract PDFs	2h	Med
Task scheduling	schedule.readthedocs.io	same	Schedule report script daily	1h	Easy-Med

Stage total: ~12h | Mini project: Automated Excel report emailer | Challenge: Scrape → clean → email pipeline, scheduled.

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STAGE 17 — DATA SCIENCE

Topic	Free Resource	Docs	Practice	⏱	🎯
NumPy	Keith Galli	numpy.org/doc	Kaggle Learn	4h	Med
Pandas	Corey Schafer Pandas series	pandas.pydata.org/docs	Clean a Kaggle dataset	8h	Med
Matplotlib/Seaborn/Plotly	Corey Schafer Matplotlib series	matplotlib.org/stable	Visualize a dataset 5 ways	4h	Med
Data cleaning & EDA	Kaggle – Data Cleaning	—	Full EDA on a messy CSV	5h	Med-Hard

Stage total: ~21h | Mini project: EDA + visualization | Challenge: Cleaning pipeline for 100K-row dataset.

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STAGE 18 — MACHINE LEARNING

Topic	Free Resource	Docs	Practice	⏱	🎯
Scikit-learn fundamentals	freeCodeCamp – ML	scikit-learn.org/stable	Kaggle Titanic	8h	Hard
Regression, classification, clustering	StatQuest	same	Kaggle competitions	10h	Hard
Model evaluation, feature engineering	Kaggle – Intermediate ML	—	Improve a baseline model	6h	Hard
TensorFlow / PyTorch intro	PyTorch tutorials · TensorFlow tutorials	same	Simple image classifier	10h	Very Hard

Stage total: ~34h | Mini project: Titanic predictor | Challenge: CNN image classifier.

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STAGE 19 — DEVOPS & DEPLOYMENT

Topic	Free Resource	Docs	Practice	⏱	🎯
Git & GitHub	freeCodeCamp Git	git-scm.com/doc	Contribute to your own past projects	4h	Easy-Med
Linux basics	freeCodeCamp Linux	—	Basic shell scripting	3h	Med
Docker	freeCodeCamp Docker	docs.docker.com	Containerize a Flask/FastAPI app	4h	Med-Hard
CI/CD	GitHub Actions docs	same	Test-on-push pipeline	3h	Hard
Deployment	Render docs · Railway docs	respective docs	Deploy 2 different apps	4h	Med
Env vars, logging, monitoring	python-dotenv	os.environ	Externalize secrets	1h	Easy

Stage total: ~19h | Mini project: Deploy Flask app to Render with CI | Challenge: Dockerized app + CI/CD to a cloud host.

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STAGE 20 — PROFESSIONAL PYTHON DEVELOPMENT

Topic	Free Resource	Docs	Practice	⏱	🎯
Design patterns	ArjanCodes – Design Patterns	—	Refactor using Factory/Strategy pattern	6h	Hard
SOLID principles	ArjanCodes – SOLID	—	Refactor a God-class	4h	Hard
Clean code & architecture	ArjanCodes – Clean Code	Clean Code (book)	Review your own Stage 7 project	4h	Hard
System design basics	ByteByteGo	—	Design a URL shortener on paper	4h	Hard
Security best practices	OWASP Top 10	same	Audit a past web project	3h	Hard
Packaging & PyPI	Official PyPA guide	same	Publish a small utility package	2h	Med
Code reviews & Agile	—	—	Peer-review a PR (great GSoC practice)	2h	Med

Stage total: ~25h

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ROADMAPS

30-Day Beginner: Wk1 Fundamentals → Wk2 Control Flow + Functions → Wk3 Data Structures → Wk4 File/Exception Handling + capstone (CLI contact book). 90-Day Intermediate: Days 1–30 above → 31–50 OOP + Modules → 51–70 Intermediate Python → 71–90 Testing + start Databases; capstone: tested, packaged CLI + SQLite. 180-Day Professional: 1–90 above → 91–120 Advanced Python + start DSA → 121–150 APIs + Web Dev → 151–180 Deploy full app w/ CI/CD; start applying to internships. 1-Year Mastery: Months 1–6 above → 7–8 finish DSA → 9–10 specialize (Data Science/ML or backend/DevOps) → 11–12 portfolio polish, open-source, mock interviews, applications.

Daily schedules: 30min = 15 concept+15 practice | 1hr = 20 concept+30 practice+10 review | 2hr = 30 concept+60 coding+30 DSA | 4hr = 45 concept+90 project+60 DSA+45 review. At 8–10 hr/week: ~1.5hr/day, 6 days/week — use the 1–2hr split, biased toward 2hr on weekends.

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DOMAIN QUICK MAP

Automation → St.16 | Web Dev → St.15 | Data Science → St.17 | ML/AI → St.18 | Cybersecurity → St.20 + scapy/cryptography | DevOps/Cloud → St.19 | Finance → pandas + yfinance | Game Dev → pygame | Desktop → tkinter/PySide

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TOOLS

Category	Recommendation
IDE	VS Code or PyCharm
Debugger	Built-in VS Code debugger; pdb
Linter/Formatter	Ruff + Black
Type checker	mypy
Package manager	uv or poetry
Must-know stdlib	os,sys,json,re,datetime,collections,itertools,functools,pathlib,logging,argparse,unittest
Must-know 3rd-party	requests,pandas,numpy,pytest,SQLAlchemy,FastAPI/Flask

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CERTIFICATIONS

PCEP — entry point, endorsed by Cisco/Stanford/WGU, ~$59, free prep via Python Essentials 1 on Edube. PCAP — ~$295, for moving past junior roles, best paired with a portfolio. Google/IBM Professional Certificates — ~$49/month, broader data/ML-adjacent credential. Reality check: a cert complements experience, doesn't replace it — projects matter more.

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CAREER: RESUME, PORTFOLIO, JOBS

• GitHub: pin 4–6 best projects with real READMEs.
• Resume: lead with impact, not a syntax list.
• Freelancing: 3 portfolio pieces → Upwork/Fiverr targeting "Python automation" → recurring clients.
• Remote jobs: target automation/backend roles → 6 months consistent GitHub activity → apply broadly.
• Open source: goodfirstissue.dev → docs/tests before code → overlaps with GSoC prep.
• Salaries: check Levels.fyi or Glassdoor for your region — figures shift too often to fix here.