Frequently Asked Questions From New Subscribers

I often receive questions from folks who've signed up for a free Python Morsels trial and are concerned about how the paid subscription works and what value there is in it. I'd like to answer some of the most common questions I've received.

If you have a question that doesn't seem to be on this page, please feel free to email me your question to me at help@pythonmorsels.com.

Why do I only have 1 exercise? Where are all my exercises?

Each Monday at 7am US/Pacific time you'll receive an exercise recommendation according to the skill level you've chosen.

I recommend 1 exercise each week to encourage habit-forming (regular habitual learning is very effective) and discourage binge-learning (cramming is not effective for learning).

However, you're welcome to select another exercise from the exercise vault at any time. You can work on Python Morsels exercises at whatever pace that works for you.

How is this different from Hacker Rank, Exercism, Code Wars, etc.?

Python Morsels is a bit different from other Python practice

I pour a lot of my time into Python Morsels exercises. I spend many hours vetting ideas, breaking problems into interesting bonuses, writing explanations for notable solutions, responding to feedback from beta testers, and fixing bugs in exercises based on feedback from you (if you've reported a bug, thank you!). I also spend time and money on the development of the Python Morsels web app. These hours result in something which I hope is uniquely useful.

Unlike Exercism, Project Euler, Hacker Rank, Code Wars, and CheckIO, Python Morsels is targeted less at algorithmic or mathematical exercises and more at embracing the tools and features available in the Python programming language. I have dozens of rejected exercise ideas which I'd love to do but I haven't found an answer to the question "what is there to learn about Python in this problem"?

If you're looking for exercises which help you understand Python better and practice useful everyday Python skills, Python Morsels is probably a good fit for you. If you want exercises for algorithmic interview prep, to learn how to program in general, or to solve fun math problems, you may want to look elsewhere.

What if one exercise per week is too frequent for me?

If one exercise per week is too much, that's okay! You could do one every couple weeks instead. If I recommend an exercise and you don't take action during that week, I'll recommend the same exercise again for a few weeks.

If you plan to solve exercises very rarely, you could sign up for the Lite plan instead. It's $10/month for 1 exercise every month. Both plans include full access to all screencasts.

When I decide to cancel one day, what will happen and how does that work?

Cancelling puts your account into a non-renewing state. So rather than stopping exercises immediately, cancelling will stop them at the end of your current billing term.

When you cancel, you'll continue to have access to all the exercises you claimed while subscribed. You'll still be able to submit solutions for the exercises through the app and you'll still have access to both the problem statements and the solution walk-throughs. If you ever re-subscribe, you'll start up from where you left off.

What if I can't afford a Python Morsels subscription?

If you make an SF bay area tech salary, $20/month likely isn't much at all. On the other hand, if you make a fraction of the salary made by many bay area tech folks, $20/month might be a considerable sum of money.

If you can't afford a Python Morsels subscription, I may have a discount that's suitable for you. I offer discounts to based on income level. See the discounts page for more details.

Can I get access to your entire collection of exercises at once?

Yes. Sort of. The All Access plan includes access to all exercises in the exercise vault. You can solve exercises at any pace you'd like. When you cancel one day, you'll stop being able to solve more exercises, but you'll still see the exercises you've previously solved.

But please keep in mind that I don't recommend binge-learning because it's less effective. I recommend solving at most one exercise per sitting. If long-term learning is your goal, make sure to get up and walk away from your machine for a few hours to let your brain reflect (sleep on it so to speak) before moving on.

If I don't subscribe, will you keep emailing me interesting things about Python?

If you're subscribed to my newsletter, then yes. I make some announcements only to active Python Morsels subscribers, but the majority of my Python-related emails are sent through my free Python newsletter.

If I don't subscribe now, can I still subscribe later?

Most likely, yes. The price may be different in the future, but you're welcome to subscribe, cancel, and re-subscribe whenever you'd like.

Great, so how do I subscribe?

You can find options to sign up for a paid Python Morsels subscription on your subscription management page.

Can I use third-party modules like requests?

You cannot. The online testing tool does not have any third-party modules installed.

Why? Well, Python Morsels is primarily focused on learning Python, not third-party Python libraries.

I may consider allowing certain third-party modules eventually, but I likely won't ever allow arbitrary third-party modules (since that would pose a security concern because anyone can put anything on the Python Package Index, even malicious code).

Do exercise credits work and do they expire?

There's two ways to get an exercise: have an active Python Morsels subscription or have exercise credits. Exercise credits come from using a redemption code or from putting your active subscription on pause.

Exercise credits do not expire. You can choose to use them now or at any time in the future.

If your account is cancelled and you have credits, you'll automatically use 1 credit each week to get a new exercise unless you specifically. If your account is active and you have credits, you'll still be billed as usual but you can get additional exercises whenever you like by spending an exercise credit.

For more on exercise credits see the Exercise Credits page.

How can I pause billing?

If you have an active Python Morsels subscription, there's a pause feature available to you on your subscription page. This will give you an exercise credit each time you would have received an exercise and it will also pause your billing.

For more on pausing and resuming see the Pausing page.

How can I pause my exercise credits?

There's not a pause/resume feature for exercise credits the way there is for active paid subscriptions. However, you can pause the use of your exercise credits and resume them later. You'll just need to do it manually by disabling exercises on your account preferences page.

See pausing credits and the pausing page for more.

I used a redemption code but I'm being billed. Why?

Redemption codes add credits to your account. They don't change your billing period.

If you'd like to get more exercises than one per week, you can use your credits manually while maintaining your subscription. Or if/when you cancel your subscription in the future you can use your credits.

Exercise credits do not expire.

For more on how exercise credits work, see how redemption codes work for active subscribers and the Exercise Credits page.

Can I gift a subscription to someone else?

Yes, sort of. You can't gift a recurring subscription to someone (without giving them your payment details to add to their account) but you can purchase a redemption code for exercise credits and screencast access and gift that to a friend.

You can buy exercise credits by using the Buy Credits button in your account. You'll need to sign up (no paid subscription necessary) before you can buy credits.

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