I’m trying to move from marketing into Data Science. Are there free resources for learning tech skills that cover the full path from SQL to Machine Learning? I feel overwhelmed by the number of paid bootcamps out there.
3 answers
You don't need a $10,000 bootcamp to learn the basics. Start with SQL on platforms like SQLZoo or Mode Analytics. Then, move to Python using the "Python for Everybody" course from the University of Michigan, which you can audit for free on Coursera. For data visualization, Tableau offers a "Public" version that is free to use. These free resources for learning tech skills allow you to build a portfolio as you learn. Kaggle is also essential; they have free micro-courses on everything from data cleaning to deep learning, and you can participate in competitions to test your skills against real datasets.
Is it worth learning R, or should I just stick to Python if I want to get hired quickly?
DataQuest has a very good free tier for learning the basics of Python and R in an interactive environment. It's very hands-on and beginner-friendly.
I loved DataQuest's interface! It feels like you're actually doing the work rather than just watching a video of someone else doing it.
Alan, stick to Python. It’s more versatile and has a larger ecosystem for production-level AI. If you use free resources for learning tech skills in Python, you'll find much more support and documentation online, which makes the self-learning journey a lot less frustrating when you hit a bug.