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There are several ways of defining the  suite definition . 
This tutorial will give examples for both the plain text and Python methods.

Text Method

The python method is recommended unless you are planning a simple suite.

Create a file called test.def , using your favourite text editor, with the following contents

# Definition of the suite test
suite test
   edit ECF_HOME "$HOME/course"  # replace '$HOME' with the path to your home directory
   task t1
endsuite

This file contains the  suite definition  of a  suite  called test.
This suite contains a single  task  called t1.
Let us go through the lines one by one:

This line is a comment line. Any characters between the # and the end of line are ignored
This line defines a new suite by the name of test.
Here we define a ecFlow variable called ECF_HOME.
This variable defines the directory where all the unix files that will be used by the suite test will reside.
For the rest of the course all file names will be given relative to this directory.
Be sure to replace $HOME with the path to your home directory
This defines a task named t1
The endsuite finishes the definition of the suite test

Python Method

Enter the following python code into a file i.e. test.py :

import os
from ecflow import Defs,Suite,Task,Edit
   
print("Creating suite definition")
home = os.path.join(os.getenv("HOME"),"course")
defs = Defs( 
        Suite('test',
            Edit(ECF_HOME=home),
            Task('t1')))
print(defs)

Then run as a python script:

python3 test.py

Alternatively add the following as the first line in test.py

#!/usr/bin/env python3            
...

chmod +x test.py
./test.py  # this uses shebang, see below, searches for specified python variant in $PATH

You should see the text "Creating suite definition" and then your definition as your output.

What to do

Initially try both plain text and python examples. Later examples are only in python.
Type in the suite definition file.
Choose python invocation. i.e. python3 test.py | ./test.py.