Getting Started with Quantum Computing

Your path from zero to running circuits on real quantum computers

🎯 Your Learning Path

📍 Start Here

If you're brand new to quantum:

  1. Read Phase 0: Destroy Your Assumptions
  2. Use our Quantum Playground (Quirk simulator)
  3. Progress through Phase 1 lessons
  4. Then try real quantum hardware!

🛠️ Tools You'll Need

1. Start with Browser-Based Tools (No Install)

Quirk Quantum Simulator

What: Interactive drag-and-drop circuit builder
Why: Instant visual feedback, no coding required
Best for: Building intuition, experimenting with gates

Open Quirk Playground Official Quirk Site →

IBM Quantum Composer

What: Visual circuit composer + real quantum hardware access
Why: Run circuits on actual quantum computers (for free!)
Best for: Experiencing real quantum behavior

Setup Guide Below ↓

2. Install Python Tools (For Serious Learning)

Qiskit (IBM's Framework)

What: Python library for quantum computing
Why: Industry standard, great documentation, free cloud access
Best for: Building real quantum applications 

pip install qiskit qiskit-ibm-runtime

Qiskit Docs →

🚀 IBM Quantum Setup (Free Access to Real Quantum Computers!)

💎 This is HUGE

IBM gives you FREE access to real quantum computers. Not simulators—actual quantum hardware. You can run your circuits on superconducting qubits cooled to near absolute zero.

Step 1: Create IBM Quantum Account

  1. Go to https://quantum.ibm.com/
  2. Click "Sign in" → "Create an IBMid"
  3. Fill out the form (takes 2 minutes)
  4. Verify your email
  5. You're in! 🎉

Step 2: Explore the Dashboard

Once logged in, you'll see:

Step 3: Run Your First Circuit

Simple Superposition Experiment

  1. Open Composer
  2. Drag a H gate onto qubit q0
  3. Add a Measure gate
  4. Click "Run" → Select a backend:
    • Simulator: Instant results (classical simulation)
    • Real device: Waits in queue, runs on actual quantum hardware!
  5. Check results: Should see ~50% |0⟩, ~50% |1⟩

Step 4: Run on Real Hardware

⚠️ Real Quantum = Real Noise

Real quantum computers have errors (decoherence, gate errors, measurement errors). If your results aren't perfect 50/50, that's normal! This is why quantum error correction matters.

What you'll notice on real hardware:

📊 Understanding Your Results

Interpreting Histograms

Simulator results (ideal):

|0⟩: 50%  ████████████████████████
|1⟩: 50%  ████████████████████████

Real quantum computer results (noisy):

|0⟩: 48%  ███████████████████████
|1⟩: 52%  █████████████████████████

The noise is REAL quantum noise—not a bug. This is what current quantum hardware looks like.

💻 Qiskit Code Example

If you've installed Qiskit, here's the same circuit in code:

from qiskit import QuantumCircuit
from qiskit_ibm_runtime import QiskitRuntimeService, Sampler

# Create circuit
qc = QuantumCircuit(1, 1)
qc.h(0)          # Hadamard gate
qc.measure(0, 0) # Measure qubit 0 → classical bit 0

# Run on simulator
from qiskit.primitives import Sampler as LocalSampler
sampler = LocalSampler()
result = sampler.run(qc, shots=1000).result()
print(result.quasi_dists)

# OR run on real IBM quantum computer:
# service = QiskitRuntimeService(channel="ibm_quantum", token="YOUR_TOKEN")
# backend = service.least_busy(operational=True, simulator=False)
# sampler = Sampler(backend)
# job = sampler.run(qc, shots=1000)
# print(job.result())

🎓 Suggested Learning Order

1️⃣

Week 1: Intuition

Complete Phase 0 lessons. Use Quirk to play with H gates, X gates, measurement. Don't worry about math yet.

2️⃣

Week 2: Gates & Bloch Sphere

Learn Phase 1 lessons. Create IBM Quantum account. Run simple circuits on simulator.

3️⃣

Week 3: Real Hardware

Run circuits on real quantum computer. Compare simulator vs hardware results. Understand noise.

4️⃣

Week 4+: Algorithms

Learn Phase 2 algorithms. Install Qiskit. Build your own quantum programs.

📚 Additional Resources

Ready to Start Your Quantum Journey? 🚀

Begin by destroying your classical assumptions, then build up quantum intuition step by step.

Start Phase 0 Open Playground