Build a To-Do List App in Python – Console-Based Project for Beginners

Want to build something useful while learning Python?

In this tutorial, we’ll show you how to build a simple To-Do List app in Python, right in your terminal. This is a perfect beginner project to help you practice:

• Python lists
• Loops and conditions
• Functions
• User input
• Basic menu-driven interface

Let’s get started! 💻

🧾 What Will This App Do?

• Add new tasks
• View current tasks
• Delete a task
• Exit the program

All handled through a text-based menu.

🛠️ Step-by-Step Python Code

✅ Full Code (With Comments):

pythonCopyEdit# Simple To-Do List App (Console-Based)

# Initialize empty list to hold tasks
tasks = []

def show_menu():
    print("\n--- To-Do List Menu ---")
    print("1. View tasks")
    print("2. Add task")
    print("3. Delete task")
    print("4. Exit")

def view_tasks():
    if not tasks:
        print("No tasks in the list.")
    else:
        print("\nYour Tasks:")
        for i, task in enumerate(tasks, 1):
            print(f"{i}. {task}")

def add_task():
    task = input("Enter the new task: ")
    tasks.append(task)
    print(f"Task '{task}' added!")

def delete_task():
    view_tasks()
    try:
        task_num = int(input("Enter task number to delete: "))
        if 1 <= task_num <= len(tasks):
            removed = tasks.pop(task_num - 1)
            print(f"Task '{removed}' deleted!")
        else:
            print("Invalid task number.")
    except ValueError:
        print("Please enter a valid number.")

# Main loop
while True:
    show_menu()
    choice = input("Choose an option (1-4): ")

    if choice == "1":
        view_tasks()
    elif choice == "2":
        add_task()
    elif choice == "3":
        delete_task()
    elif choice == "4":
        print("Goodbye!")
        break
    else:
        print("Invalid choice. Please try again.")

🔍 What You’ll Learn

• Lists: Store tasks in a list and manage them dynamically
• Functions: Break your program into reusable parts
• Loops: Keep the app running until the user exits
• Input/Output: Interact with the user in real-time
• Error handling: Use try/except to prevent crashes

🛠️ Ideas to Take It Further

Once you’ve built the basic version, try adding:

• ✅ Save tasks to a file (so they persist between sessions)
• ✅ Mark tasks as complete
• ✅ Add a due date for each task
• ✅ Sort tasks by date or priority
• ✅ Build a GUI version using tkinter or PyQt (advanced)

💡 Why This Project Is Great for Beginners

• You practice real programming logic
• You create a useful tool
• You can easily expand it into something bigger
• It prepares you for file handling, data structures, and UI development

🎯 Final Thoughts

Building a to-do list app in Python is more than a beginner exercise — it’s your first real-world productivity tool. It combines everything you’ve learned into one clean, functional script.

And best of all? You wrote it from scratch. 💪

🔜 Coming Up Next:

“How to Build a Password Generator in Python” 🔐