When comparing Learn Python the Hard way vs W3Schools, the Slant community recommends Learn Python the Hard way for most people. In the question“What are the best resources to learn Python?” Learn Python the Hard way is ranked 3rd while W3Schools is ranked 15th. The most important reason people chose Learn Python the Hard way is:
Teaches by giving a piece of code and letting the user see what the code does.
Ranked in these QuestionsQuestion Ranking
Pros
Pro Practical
Teaches by giving a piece of code and letting the user see what the code does.
Pro Free
Available online for free.
Pro Encourages use of flash cards
To help better remember certain parts of the language, the author suggests using flash cards.
Pro Easy to learn
All the tutorials are written in a straightforward and easy to understand way.
Pro Built in editor
Almost every example has a "try it yourself" button which opens up an editor in a new tab. It allows you to play with the example code and see how it works.
Pro Well organized tutorials
All of the lessons are separated into their own pages, which makes it easy to learn about specific concepts.
Pro Great source from Google search's perspective
Cons
Con Author still suggests newcomers to the language learn Python 2
The only reason to learn Python 2 these days is if you have to workout on legacy Python 2 software, and upgrading to Python 3 is not an option. Telling newcomers to learn a outdated, and soon to be unsupported version of the language is detrimental.
Con Suggests looking up details on the web
The book often suggests looking up details on the web instead of providing them. Additionally, no resources are suggested where to look up such information. As a result the quality of explanation of details can vary based on used resource.
Con Outdated practices / problem solutions
The practices that are shown to solve the problems at hand are rarely, if at all, updated. Usually, their tutorials and learning material is updated only after they see their profits drop.
Con Doesn't care about teaching right
There are multiple errors in the data they show. Although the solutions they show work, they will lead to unmaintainable code. That happens even when the maintainable code alternatives are as easy or accessible to new programmers as the alternatives.
Con Certifications not recognized
Many professionals in IT agree that w3s certifications are not recognized by them and are deemed useless. Good luck finding any respectable professional that accepts a w3s certification.
Con It is for profit
What defines what goes is and what gets fixed on w3schools is what gives them profit and what doesn't (through their ads system).
Con Written tutorials only
While many learning resources offer a mixture of media in their courses (such as videos, challenges etc.), w3schools offers only written tutorials and code editors. This makes w3schools more beneficial as a quick reference rather than a primary learning resource.