Learning path

Outcome: choose the right starting environment and see the exact path from one .tpz file to a tested two-module product.

Prerequisites: you only need a text editor and basic terminal familiarity; the final lesson also requires Python 3.11 or newer.

Choose your starting point

Use the Playground when you want to change and run a short program without installing anything. It is enough for the first four language lessons, but it cannot create the package and artifact used at the end.

Install Topaz locally when you want to complete the whole path. First Program gives shell, PowerShell, and npm choices, then uses the same topaz commands on every platform.

Most readers can finish the five hands-on lessons in about an hour. It is also fine to stop at each readiness check and continue later: every lesson leaves the study-plan program in a working state.

What you will build

The example grows without changing subjects:

1. First Program — write a study-plan value, run check and run, then repair one static type diagnostic.
2. Values and Functions — add inferred and written types, a function, and the one mutable value the program actually needs.
3. Data and Control — model study tasks as nominal data, store them in a collection, and use if, match, and for.
4. Failures and Resources — handle invalid input with Option, Result, and ?, guarantee cleanup with defer, and inspect one intentional fault.
5. First Application — split the code into src/main.tpz and src/plan.tpz, add a test, lock and check the package, then build a Python product.

The last command runs the generated product from a directory that contains no .tpz files and has no access to the Topaz project or compiler. Package registries, browser lifecycle, HTTP hosting, and backend internals remain optional next steps, not beginner prerequisites.

Decision: Playground or local tools?

Choose the Playground if your immediate question is “What does this expression do?” Choose a local installation if your goal is “Can I complete the tested application and keep its artifact?” You can start in the browser and switch before the final lesson without losing any course knowledge.

Try this

Decide where you will complete the course. Do you need a local installation now?

Ready to continue when

You can name your starting environment, know that the destination is a tested two-module Python product, and have either opened the Playground or prepared to install topaz.

Continue to First Program. Keep Syntax at a Glance open as an unnumbered reference whenever you need to recall a form.