If You Want To Make 6 Figures as a Data Analyst, Start With This Free Online Python Course

I’ve updated my data analytics career guides after nearly a decade of industry experience. Here are my programming course rankings for 2023.

You, saving the world with your Python data analytics skills.

How I picked courses to consider

Why Python programming?

Python, R, or SQL proficiency + domain expertise = six-figure salary as a Data Analyst

The Python logo.

A note on Programming vs. Computer Science

Computer science is the study of what computers [can] do; programming is the practice of making computers do things.

How I evaluated courses

My recommendation for the BEST intro to programming for data analysts is…

The first video in the Python for Everybody Specialization, taught by Dr. Charles Severance a.k.a Dr. Chuck.

The instructor is there with you every step of the way, from beginning to play around with Python and writing your first “hello world”, to writing a complicated function.

The course is easy to get through, and you can tell how passionate Dr. Chuck is about Python. He’s very encouraging, which is great if you had little to no confidence like I did when first starting, and is great at explaining things in beginner-friendly terms and makes it easy for you to become truly interested in learning to program … It was also so encouraging watching the office hours and seeing all the other people who took the course around the world.

I genuinely cannot recommend this course enough to everybody, it really made such an impact on me…It was, and still is, the best beginner course I’ve ever come across. Full review

My #2 pick: If you prefer an intro that’s longer & more in depth…

An overview video for Dr. David Joyner’s Introduction to Python Programming on edX.

Over 400 students on campus have completed this version of the course, and our analysis shows that they exit the course with the same learning outcomes as students taking the traditional on-campus version. This Professional Certificate uses the same instructional material and assessments as learning Python on campus, giving you a Georgia Tech-caliber introduction into the field of computing at your own pace.

The best part of the course, apart from the material, is the tone of the teaching. It’s inviting. Professor Joyner and his team are adept at understanding core problem areas of students when it comes to learning how to code, which is evident in how they emphasize certain learning challenges throughout the course (nested loops, understanding the “return” command of a function, etc.). Moreover, they treat you like a true beginner, someone who doesn’t know anything about the course that they’re taking, which is a huge plus. Sometimes introductory courses aren’t “introductory” enough. Full review

My #3 pick: an intro with the best learning software for data analytics

Hugo Bowne-Anderson introducing you to the DataCamp learning platform in Introduction to Python.

I have been trying to learn Python for a while… I finally received a recommendation from one of my instructors at school to try DataCamp. I am very happy I did it. I loved the structure of the course and the fact that it’s very hands on. The bite size exercises and code snippets are very well planned out. I also like the constructive feedback when an answer is not fully correct to help you get it right. I am glad to say Hugo has turned me into a Pythonistic Ninja 🙂.

The Competition

Summary

Next in this series…

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Entrepreneur. EdTech. Data Analytics.

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