Run your first cell
P39.first-steps.01 · Audience: guest, language-pro, it-ml
You have never written code, and that is exactly who this is for. By the end of this short module you will have run real Python and read its answer — the one small skill everything else here is built on.
ⓘ Concept: A cell is a box you can run
A cell is a box of code. Pressing Run hands it to Python, which does the work and shows the result in the output panel. That is all "running code" means — you are not casting a spell, you are asking a very fast, very literal assistant a question and reading its answer.
Why it matters — Every exercise, notebook, and script on this platform is made of cells. Once 'type, run, read' feels ordinary, nothing else here can intimidate you.
The manual way, and the Python way
To add 2 + 2 you already know the answer is 4. To add up a long column of
numbers on paper you would work down the column, carrying tens, and hope you
did not slip. Python does the same arithmetic instantly and never miscounts.
We start with sums you already know on purpose — so the only new thing is
the running, not the maths.
Your turn
The rung below prints two sums, then asks you to predict their answers. Type each answer as a number, press Run, and watch the output appear. That "type, run, read" loop is the entire foundation of this discipline.
Ask the mentor about this module
Ask a question about this content. The mentor explains and grounds its answer in what you are studying; asking is recorded as a learning signal, not a grade.
🎓 Practice ladder
1 graded rung · ~3 minThree panels: the instructions, a code editor, and live output with test results. Run checks the visible tests; Submit grades your answer; the reference solution unlocks once you pass. Nothing here can break your machine.
Explorer rung — run your first cell
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Where next?
Later in First Steps
Go up a level