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Bala Priya C
Bala Priya C

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Top 6 Resources to Learn Quantum Computing for Free

Have you always been fascinated by the world of qubits, and are curious to learn Quantum Computing?

In this post, I’ve prepared a comprehensive list of a few great resources that’d help you to learn the basics of Quantum Computing, while also simulating your own quantum circuits.
The list includes lectures, tutorials and suggested reading to understand quantum phenomena and algorithms.

You can follow along by coding your circuits in IBM Qiskit — an open source framework that enables you to run quantum algorithms on IBM’s quantum processors through IBM Quantum Experience.

The resources are mentioned in no particular order, except that Coding with Qiskit Season 1 should ideally be covered before Season 2 for a better learning experience!😀

To start using Qiskit, a beginner-level understanding of Python and an IBM Quantum Experience account are required. You can sign up for your free IBM Quantum Experience account here.

If you’re new to Python, no worries! There are several resources that’d help you to hit the ground running.
Read ahead to find some of the best free resources to get started with your quantum learning journey.


1. Qiskit Foundations — Coding with Qiskit Season 1

In this series, instructor Abraham Asfaw walks the learners through foundational concepts of Qiskit including the following:

  • Installing Qiskit
  • Hello World! of Quantum Computing
  • Basics of Quantum Circuits
  • Quantum Teleportation Algorithm
  • Bernstein-Vazirani Algorithm


2. Qiskit Algorithms — Coding with Qiskit Season 2

This series, run by Jin-Sung Kim, a Quantum Researcher at IBM covers relatively advanced concepts and popular quantum algorithms including the following:

  • Basics of Quantum Algorithms
  • Shor’s Algorithm
  • Grover’s Algorithm
  • Variational Quantum Eigensolvers and
  • Quantum Support Vector Machines


3. IBM Qiskit Summer School 2020

The first edition of the Qiskit Global Summer School was organized in July 2020. Thanks to IBM Quantum, the lectures from the summer school are available on YouTube for anyone to watch. The lectures in the playlist cover theoretical foundations of Quantum Computation in greater detail while also focusing on programming with Qiskit. Are you ready to dive in?😀


4. Qiskit Textbook

The Qiskit textbook is more of a recommended reference to read through and follow along if you’re looking for a semester-long course in Quantum Computing. The interactive Jupyter notebooks can be run on IBM Quantum Experience as you progress through the textbook. The textbook is freely available online and you may read it here.


5. Programs by The Coding School

The Coding School, in association with IBM Quantum runs several programs to educate learners — from middle school students to those in workforce, to provide foundational to advanced knowledge of Quantum Computing. They trained 8000+ learners in their Qubit x Qubit initiative, over a period of two semesters from October 2020 to May 2021. This ‘Introduction to Quantum Computing’ course, taught by leading researchers in the field, was an enriching learning experience with weekly lectures, labs and assignments. Here’s an outline of the course:

  • Math Foundations of Quantum Computing — Linear Algebra
  • Working with Quantum gates
  • Quantum Mechanics
  • Coding with Qiskit
  • Quantum Algorithms

They have several other programs and summer programs as well, which also offer need-based scholarships to learners. You can check their past and upcoming programs here. https://www.qubitbyqubit.org/programs


6. Michael Nielsen’s Lecture Series

Michael Nielsen’s, ‘Quantum Computing for the Determined‘ playlist is a good reference for the theoretical aspects of Quantum Computing, starting from what a qubit is and gradually building up to cover more advanced topics. Here’s a rough outline of what the lectures cover:

  • Working with Qubits
  • Quantum gates
  • Quantum Mechanics
  • Superdense Coding
  • Quantum Teleportation


Hope you all found this post useful. Thank you for reading.😀
Have a great time learning Quantum Computing!✨


Photo by Michael Dziedzic on Unsplash

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