You have never touched quantum computing. This level uses pictures, analogies and probability — no linear algebra. The goal is that you can explain what a qubit is to a friend, and that you know what quantum computers genuinely cannot do.
By the end of this level
Explain qubits, superposition, entanglement and measurement in plain language, and spot the hype.
Work down the list. Each topic page lists its own prerequisites, so if something assumes knowledge you do not have, the link back is right there.
A computer that stores and manipulates information using quantum physics, letting it explore many computational paths at once and interfere them so the wrong answers cancel out.
8 resources · BeginnerThe quantum version of a bit. Instead of being 0 or 1, a qubit carries two numbers (amplitudes) that say how much of "0" and how much of "1" it holds — including negative and complex values.
10 resources · BeginnerA qubit holding a nonzero amount of both 0 and 1 at the same time — not "secretly one of them", and not "both in separate universes", but a genuine third kind of state with no classical counterpart.
7 resources · BeginnerReading a qubit forces it to pick 0 or 1, with probability equal to the square of the corresponding amplitude — and destroys the superposition in the process.
6 resources · BeginnerBecause amplitudes can be negative (or complex), contributions to a wrong answer can cancel each other out while contributions to the right answer add up.
3 resources · BeginnerTwo or more qubits sharing a single joint state, so that their measurement results are correlated in ways no classical shared-secret arrangement can reproduce — even though neither qubit has a definite state of its own.
5 resources · BeginnerReversible operations that rotate qubit states. X flips, H creates superposition, Z flips a sign, and CNOT lets one qubit control another — that small set already gets you a long way.
10 resources · BeginnerThe standard notation for a quantum program: horizontal wires are qubits, time flows left to right, boxes are gates, and the meter symbols at the end are measurements.
5 resources · BeginnerQuantum computers give large speedups on a narrow, structured set of problems. They are not faster at general computing, they do not "solve NP-complete problems instantly", and they will not run your spreadsheet.
5 resources · BeginnerQubits leak their quantum information into the environment within microseconds to milliseconds, and every gate applied to them is slightly wrong. That is why building a useful quantum computer is hard.
7 resources · BeginnerTo go past intuition you need complex numbers, vectors, matrices, inner products and eigenvectors. That is roughly one solid linear algebra course — not a physics degree.
6 resources · BeginnerBasic Python plus NumPy is enough to start. Every mainstream quantum SDK — Qiskit, Cirq, PennyLane, Braket — is a Python library.
3 resources · BeginnerThe full set written for beginner learners, across every topic. Mark things done as you go — it is stored in this browser only.
The single best starting point in existence. An essay built on spaced-repetition flashcards embedded in the text, so you actually remember it a month later. Assumes nothing but curiosity, and gets you honestly to quantum teleportation.
IBM's free structured course platform and the successor to the old Qiskit Textbook. Mixes written lessons, videos and runnable notebooks, and takes you from 'what is a qubit' to running jobs on real hardware.
A free, complete undergraduate textbook with worked exercises. Uniquely, it teaches classical computing alongside quantum, so the comparison is always concrete rather than hand-waved.
A hands-on Jupyter-based workshop run worldwide by a volunteer community. Strong on doing rather than watching, and the free live cohorts give you people to get stuck with.
Interactive, visual and gentle, built in collaboration with quantum researchers. Worth it if you learn best by poking at widgets; everything it covers is available free elsewhere with more effort.
A polished, heavily visual self-paced program aimed squarely at newcomers without a physics background. The interactive Bloch sphere and noise demos are the standouts.
The university MOOC hub. MIT's Quantum Information Science series and Delft's hardware-focused courses are the standouts. Audit tracks are free; certificates cost money.
Microsoft's concept documentation is unusually well written for docs — the pages on qubits, entanglement and the Q# language work as standalone explanations.
Fifteen short videos that give you geometric intuition for vectors, matrices, linear transformations and eigenvectors. Watch this before any quantum math and everything afterwards is easier.
Strang's legendary course, with full video lectures, problem sets and exams. This is the deep version of the prerequisite — do it if you want real fluency rather than a passing acquaintance.
Exercise-driven and self-paced, with instant feedback. The best option if you want to practise mechanics — matrix multiplication, eigenvectors — until they are automatic.
The official jumping-off point. Every mainstream quantum SDK is a Python library, so this is the only programming language you actually need.
Quantum states are complex vectors and gates are matrices, which in Python means NumPy arrays. This short guide covers everything you need, including complex dtypes.
Drag gates onto wires and watch amplitudes, Bloch spheres and probabilities update live. Nothing else builds gate intuition this fast, and it needs no install or account.
Free accounts get a graphical circuit composer and a monthly allowance of runtime on genuine superconducting quantum processors. Your first noisy histogram from real hardware is a rite of passage.
A drag-and-drop optical table in the browser — lasers, beam splitters, polarisers — that lets you build interference and Bell-test experiments and see the physics rather than the algebra.
The essay that named the NISQ era. Almost no equations, and it frames what near-term hardware can and cannot do more honestly than anything else you will read.
You cannot copy an unknown quantum state. The one-line proof is genuinely accessible, and this single fact explains teleportation, QKD security and why error correction is hard.
Free lecture videos from the Delft MOOCs, organised by topic. Uniquely strong on the hardware side — how you actually build and control a qubit — and on quantum internet.
Science journalism that researchers actually respect. The best way to follow real results without either the arXiv firehose or press-release hyperbole.
Where to ask when you are stuck, and often where your question has already been answered by a working researcher. Search before posting — the back catalogue is deep.
Next
Once you can do the things listed above, move on to Intermediate — pick up the math. write and run real circuits.
Go to Intermediate →