Hello, Quantum World: Writing Your First Quantum Program

By Macfeigh Atunga | Published: September 17, 2025

Introduction

Just as “Hello World” is the first milestone in classical programming, the beginner’s gateway into quantum computing is randomness. In this tutorial, we’ll walk step by step through writing your very first quantum program using Qiskit and the IBM Quantum Experience.

By the end, you will have created a quantum circuit that prepares a qubit, applies a Hadamard gate, and measures it — producing a truly random output: either 0 or 1.

Step 1: Sign up for IBM Quantum Experience or install Qiskit

You can run your first program either on IBM’s cloud-based quantum platform or locally using Qiskit’s simulators.

pip install qiskit

Step 2: Create a qubit

A qubit starts in the state |0⟩ by default. This is analogous to a classical bit starting at 0.

Step 3: Apply a Hadamard gate

The Hadamard gate puts the qubit into a superposition state:

H|0⟩ = (|0⟩ + |1⟩)/√2

This means the qubit has a 50% chance of being measured as 0 and 50% as 1.

Step 4: Measure the qubit

Finally, we measure the qubit. The outcome collapses to either 0 or 1 at random.

Complete Qiskit Example

from qiskit import QuantumCircuit, Aer, execute

# Create a quantum circuit with 1 qubit and 1 classical bit
qc = QuantumCircuit(1, 1)

# Apply Hadamard gate to qubit 0
qc.h(0)

# Measure qubit into classical bit 0
qc.measure(0, 0)

# Run on the simulator
simulator = Aer.get_backend('qasm_simulator')
job = execute(qc, simulator, shots=1024)
result = job.result()
counts = result.get_counts()
print("Random outcome counts:", counts)

Why this matters

This simple program is more than a toy: it demonstrates the essence of quantum mechanics — superposition and randomness. It’s also the foundation of quantum random number generators, which have real-world applications in cybersecurity and simulations.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

Is the randomness from quantum computers truly random?

Yes. Unlike classical pseudo-random algorithms, quantum randomness arises from the fundamental laws of physics.

Do I need to pay to use IBM Quantum?

No. IBM Quantum Experience has a free tier, but also offers premium access with faster queues and advanced hardware.

Can I run this program without internet?

Yes. By installing Qiskit locally, you can use simulators on your own machine without connecting to IBM Quantum cloud.

Author: Macfeigh Atunga

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