Python 3: Deep Dive (Part 1 - Functional) (Udemy.com)
Variables, Functions and Functional Programming, Closures, Decorators, Modules and Packages
Created by: Dr. Fred Baptiste
Last updated August 2024
Our take
Based on the ratings of 13,534 students, a sample of their written reviews and the syllabus, as the course stood in August 2024. No course pays to be reviewed.
This is Part 1 of a series about how Python works as a language, not about libraries or frameworks. Fred Baptiste covers variables and memory, numeric types, function parameters, first-class functions, closures, decorators, named tuples and the import system. It runs about 46 hours across 161 lectures, and the description says plainly that it is not for beginners. It suits people who already write Python and want to understand why it behaves the way it does.
Reviewers keep praising the depth and the way the teaching explains why a result happens, not just what to type. One says few other courses go into this much detail. Another says it gave a better mental model of how things work. The complaints are small. It demands a lot of focus, one reviewer wanted object-oriented material added, and the course has no quizzes or coding exercises, so practice is up to the student. Of 13,534 ratings, 10,212 are five stars and only 81 are one or two stars.
The last update was August 2024, which is over two years back, though the core material on scopes, closures and decorators does not date quickly, and there is a Python Updates section. With 75,373 students and a 4.9 rating, it is a safe pick for anyone past the basics. Plan to pause the videos and write code before the instructor does. If a quick overview is what you want, look elsewhere.
Pros
- Explains why Python behaves as it does, with the instructor writing code live
- Downloadable annotated Jupyter notebooks come with the lessons
- Rated 4.9 across 13,534 ratings, with 10,212 of them five stars
- Goes deeper on namespaces, closures and decorators than most Python courses
Cons
- No quizzes or coding exercises, so practice depends on pausing and trying code yourself
- Skips object-oriented programming, which one reviewer wanted added
- Needs sustained focus, and was last updated in August 2024
Very Detailed, few, if any, other courses go into the level of detail or minutia that this one does.
Intermediate is accurate: be comfortable with loops, functions and classes first. It is not a first Python course.
What you will learn
- An in-depth look at variables, memory, namespaces and scopes
- A deep dive into Python's memory management and optimizations
- In-depth understanding and advanced usage of Python's numerical data types (Booleans, Integers, Floats, Decimals, Fractions, Complex Numbers)
- Advanced Boolean expressions and operators
- Advanced usage of callables including functions, lambdas and closures
- Functional programming techniques such as map, reduce, filter, and partials
- Create advanced decorators, including parametrized decorators, class decorators, and decorator classes
- Advanced decorator applications such as memoization and single dispatch generic functions
- Use and understand Python's complex Module and Package system
- Idiomatic Python and best practices
- Understand Python's compile-time and run-time and how this affects your code
- Avoid common pitfalls
Course content
11 sections · 161 lectures · 46 hours of video 3 articles
- 1Introduction 3 free previews4 lectures · 19 min
- 2A Quick Refresher - Basics Review 1 free preview10 lectures · 2.4 hours
- 3Variables and Memory 1 free preview14 lectures · 3 hours
- 4Numeric Types 4 free previews32 lectures · 7.9 hours
- 5Function Parameters 3 free previews18 lectures · 4.1 hours
- 6First-Class Functions 2 free previews18 lectures · 5.3 hours
- 7Scopes, Closures and Decorators 1 free preview21 lectures · 8.6 hours
- 8Tuples as Data Structures and Named Tuples 1 free preview11 lectures · 3.5 hours
- 9Modules, Packages and Namespaces 1 free preview16 lectures · 5.7 hours
- 10Python Updates 2 free previews8 lectures · 2.3 hours
- 11Extras 2 free previews9 lectures · 2.7 hours
Who it is for
The instructor says it suits
- Anyone with a basic understanding of Python that wants to take it to the next level and get a really deep understanding of the Python language and its data structures.
- Anyone preparing for an in-depth Python technical interview.
What you need before you start
- Basic introductory knowledge of Python programming (variables, conditional statements, loops, functions, lists, tuples, dictionaries, classes).
- You will need Python 3.6 or above, and a development environment of your choice (command line, PyCharm, Jupyter, etc.)
Quality Score
Overall Score : 98 / 100
Course Description
Hello!
This is Part 1 of a series of courses intended to dive into the inner mechanics and more complicated aspects of Python 3.
This is not a beginner course!
If you've been coding Python for a week or a couple of months, you probably should keep writing Python for a bit longer before tackling this series.
On the other hand, if you've been studying or programming in Python for a while, and are now starting to ask yourself questions such as:
I wonder how this works?
is there another, more pythonic, way, of doing this?
what's a closure? is that the same as a lambda?
I know how to use a decorator someone else wrote, but how does it work? How do I write my own?
why do some boolean expressions not return a boolean value? How can I use that to my advantage?
how does the import mechanism in Python work, and why am I getting side effects?
and similar types of question...
then this course is for you.
To get the most out of this course, you should be prepared to pause the coding videos, and attempt to write code before I do! Sit back during the concept/theory videos, but lean in for the code videos!
Please make sure you review the pre-requisites for this course (below) - although I give a brief refresh of basic concepts at the beginning of the course, those are concepts you should already be very comfortable with as you being this course.
In this course series, I will give you a much more fundamental and deeper understanding of the Python language and the standard library.
Python is called a "batteries-included" language for good reason - there is a ton of functionality in base Python that remains to be explored and studied.
So this course is not about explaining my favorite 3rd party libraries - it's about Python, as a language, and the standard library.
In particular this course is based on the canonical CPython. You will also need Jupyter Notebooks to view the downloadable fully-annotated Python notebooks.
It's about helping you explore Python and answer questions you are asking yourself as you develop more and more with the language.
In Python 3: Deep Dive (Part 1) we will take a much closer look at:
Variables - in particular that they are just symbols pointing to objects in memory (references)
Namespaces and scopes
Python's numeric types
Python boolean type - there's more to a simple or statement than you might think!
Run-time vs compile-time and how that affects function defaults, decorators, importing modules, etc
Functions in general (including lambdas)
Functional programming techniques (such as map, reduce, filter, zip, etc)
Closures
Decorators
Imports, modules and packages
Tuples as data structures
Named tuples
Course Prerequisites
This is an intermediate to advanced Python course.
To have the full benefit of this course you should be comfortable with the basic Python language including:
variables and simple types such as str , bool , int and float types
for and while loops
if...else... statements
using simple lists , tuples , dictionaries and sets
defining functions (using the def statement)
writing simple classes using the class keyword and the __init__ method, writing instance methods, creating basic properties using @property decorators
importing modules from the standard library (e.g. import math)
You should also:
have Python 3.6 (or higher) installed on your system
be able to write and run Python programs using either:
the command line, or
a favorite IDE (such as PyCharm),
have Jupyter Notebooks installed (which I use throughout this course so as to provide you fully annotated Python code samples)
Instructor Details
- 4.9 Rating
13,534 Reviews
Dr. Fred Baptiste
Hi,
My name is Fred Baptiste.
I am a professional software engineer with over 25 years of experience.
I started my career with a PhD in mathematics and over the years have worked with a large variety of programming languages and technologies, including Python, Go, .Net (C# and VB), Java, C++, and JavaScript to name a few, databases including relational SQL databases such as MS SQL Server, Postgres and Snowflake, as well as No-SQL databases such as Clickhouse, DynamoDB, MongoDB, Couchbase and Neo4j, message queues such as RabbitMQ, ElasticMQ/SQS, and a variety of other technologies such as Airflow, Flink, DBT, Docker, Git, and many more.
I have focused on Python based development for the last 10 years, mainly in REST API development, automation, and data engineering.
I have spent a lot of time and effort learning and gaining an in-depth understanding of Python and writing idiomatic Python, and I'd like to share that with you. I also actively maintain my YouTube channel (mathbyteacademy) which provides a lot of additional in-depth Python development videos.
I'm definitely a Python enthusiast for many reasons, and I'd like to share that passion with you too!
More courses by Dr. Fred Baptiste
Python 3: Deep Dive (Part 2 - Iterators, Generators) (2023)
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Time: 36.1h
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Python 3: Deep Dive (Part 3 - Dictionaries, Sets, JSON) (2023)
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Reviews
By Hritik on 6/16/2026
It is really good course and it re-ignited my passion for python as you learn a lot of new things which you cannot get through by watching tutorials or joining 100 day boot camps. Highly Recommended this is the first time i am writing a review in Udemy as it is well worth it.
By Natalija Mitić on 6/11/2026
Very straightforward. Basic stuff covered as a reminder for people who learned python or are developers that used other languages (like me) and know already concepts of programming so this is enough material for learning the python basics.
By Gunaganti Shreeman on 6/10/2026
Good information & content in this course but, should have added OOPS mechanism also
By Diego Arturo Hernandez Fuentes on 5/28/2026
The most complete topics in Python I have ever seen, If you are junior, this is your course. You can follow the instructor meanwhile he is writing the code. He teaches you the basic terms and why it happens? why is this the result? what would be happen if he replaces the code with another interpretation? Good course
By Eric L on 5/20/2026
Very Detailed, few, if any, other courses go into the level of detail or minutia that this one does. If you are looking for a quick overview, this course isn't for you, but if you are looking for mastery and understanding, take this one.
By Said G. on 5/9/2026
This is the only course on the entire internet that I found truly teaches Python in-depth. Dr. Fred Baptiste does not just teach syntax — he explains what happens behind the scenes at every step, which helps you understand not only Python, but how programming languages work in general. His teaching style is incredibly detailed, clear, and professional. Highly recommended for anyone serious about mastering Python beyond the basics.
By Gil G on 2/27/2026
Très didactique et complet ! Les sujets sont abordés avec profondeur, ce qui permet une compréhension claire et approfondie des concepts. L’approche pédagogique est à la fois accessible et stimulante, ce qui rend l’apprentissage très efficace. Merci pour la qualité de ce cours !
By Josip Pavlović on 2/10/2026
Fred Baptiste’s Python Deep Dive is one of the rare courses that truly feels like university-level instruction while still being practical and highly relevant for real-world work. The material is rigorous, extremely well organized, and presented in a calm, thorough way that makes even complex topics feel approachable. Fred has a remarkable teaching style: he does not rush, he explains ideas step by step, and he builds understanding gradually and logically. That makes a huge difference, because you are not just learning Python syntax, you are learning how Python actually works under the hood. In my opinion, every Python developer should go through all four Python Deep Dive courses. Together, they provide an exceptional foundation and a much deeper understanding of the language than most courses ever offer. TNX dr. Fred !
By Mark Balitsky on 1/19/2026
I appreciate the comprehensiveness of the coverage that this introduction indicates the course should contain. Hopefully this course will impart a deeper understanding of the language and its philosophy than would be achieved with a more superficial approach.
By Boyan Jeynov on 1/10/2026
This is great content, a lot of stuff to learn that I've never seen in another course. The only thing I miss is target exercises to each chapter but I realize the burden it would bring to this course to add them. I think I may manage those myself, maybe with the help of AI. Thanks!







