How to learn more about quantum computing

At events and webinars I am often asked where to learn more about quantum computing. So, in this weeks 'Entangled Threads' newsletter I will put together a list of resources that I find helpful and that might give you a running start into the world of quantum computing.

If you want to learn about quantum computing there is no way around the resources provided by IBM . Jay Gambetta , John Watrous and their teams did an amazing job putting together courses, tutorials and documentation. Quantum expert or absolute newbie, everyone will find something more to learn or improve at. If you want to get an overlook over what quantum computing is, how its works, the different algorithms and hardware available and much more than IBM Quantum Learning is a good place for you to start. If you have already the basics and you want to get some hands on training on how to program a quantum computer, you should visit the IBM Qiskit page. Here you can find tutorials, documentation and templates to get your first Qiskit projects started.

For those of you who don't know what Qiskit is, it is an open source SDK (Software Development Kit) developed by IBM that has become somewhat of a standard in quantum computing. It is Python based, so if you already know some Python getting started will be easy. However, don't be fooled, quantum programming is nothing like classical programming, at least for now. Even though Qiskit includes a wide range of libraries to program quantum computers, it is a low level programming language. Meaning you will program on machine level, calling quantum gates and preparing quantum states, which requires knowledge of Python, basic knowledge of quantum physics, an understanding of the different hardware types and of the different algorithms that are available. So, if you plan to start learning to program quantum computers be ready for a steep learning curve.

A good place to dive deeper into the quantum community, learn about algorithms, hardware and use cases and run or deploy quantum solutions is the PlanQK platform. It is a community driven platform with any resources, but also a place where you can consume quantum algorithms and hardware from various companies or you can even deploy and monetize your own solutions.

If you don't plan to program quantum computers yet or you just want to inform yourself, I can highly recommend the Youtube channel of Anastasia Marchenkova . She has a wide range of videos explaining the basics of quantum computers, talking about interesting news in the field to explaining how she ended up un quantum computing. It is definitely a good place for quantum newbies to start their journey.

If you want to keep up to date about the quantum market, the go-to news outlet for the industry is The Quantum Insider . Here you will find the hottest news and topics of the industry. Even though Matt Swayne does a great job making the news accessible to everyone, it requires at least a basic understanding of the technology and quantum market to follow the often very technical news.

Another good place to find articles, news and interviews with quantum industry leader is the Future of Computing newsletter by Benjamin Wolba . You definitely should also consider subscribing to him if you plan to keep up to date about the market and if you want to hear what industry leaders have to say about the technology, market and other topics.

With 'Entangled Threads' I try to add to this mix a newsletter that dives deeper into the topics, but in an understandable way for everyone. My focus is to show the beauty, the power and the potential of quantum computers to a wide, business orientated audience. Let me know how I am doing in the comments below. :) Also, if you have further resources that might be interesting for a wider audience, comment it below. Read you next time!