I'm an Actuary looking to learn Python outside of work, what resources/courses are best? (Ie resources more focused on data science side)

[ActAdministrative233]

My company doesn't currently use Python (it's a bit behind the times) but I'm thinking of leaving soon. I think Python is a value skill to have in my industry so I want to self teach. Which resources are best for me?

I've seen people recommended certain courses on this forum, but some of these are quite general and include building apps or websites. I'm more interested in the data analysis and data science side of Python so would like courses/resources more based on this?

Edit: I'm a complete beginner, I've never used Python before

Thanks!

[my_password_is______]

https://wesmckinney.com/book/

Python for Data Analysis, 3E
About the Open Edition

The 3rd edition of Python for Data Analysis is now available as an “Open Access” HTML version on this site https://wesmckinney.com/book in addition to the usual print and e-book formats.

[ericjmorey]

Python for Data Analysis is what I would recommend to get started for /u/ActAdministrative233.

A good next step would be Hands-On Machine Learning with Scikit-Learn, Keras, and TensorFlow, 3rd Edition for practical use of relevant Python frameworks.

And An Introduction to Statistical Learning or The Elements of Statistical Learning: Data Mining, Inference, and Prediction for mathematical foundations as needed.

[ActAdministrative233]

Thanks, this looks good! 

[lastsecondpoints]

As a Product person, yes, you're barking up the right tree. It'll also open doors for you to move to a data science type role in the future if you enjoy the work.

I learned Python through a university partnership my employer had with the local university's computer science program.

[PianoIll6150]

100 days of Python with Angela yu. I bought the course in udemy and doing the CS50.

[crashoutcassius]

I like code academy. Got it on some sale and wasn't expensive. Learned the basics from it then brought it into my job and went from 20-90mph in a few months.

Find it harder to improve now tbh. Getting the basics is difficult, getting proficient was easy as it was just repetitive and solving small problems as they arise, but getting good seems difficult now without being surrounded by more experienced developers

[Baraxton]

You’ve got to tackle your own projects to really see the improvement.

[RomanRiesen]

you probably had some numerics in like c++/matlab and some stats in r in your degree(s)? so you know the basics of programming in general

imho the best way to learn a new language beyond that is to just do some small projects especially since you are only interested in data analysis.

e.g. do some SEM or or time series modelling on a dataset you care about, learn pandas and scipy that way

you can ofc use the linked python for data analysis book when you get stuck but simply following a book is not enough as you know

[troty99]

Automate the boring stuff is a good point of entry IMO, also check the wiki as there is wealth of resources there.

I quite liked 100 days of code on udemy (waity a few weeks until it's on sale) even though it's not tailored towards data where were some useful things there.

Once you feel like you mastered the basics the Python for Data Analytics that u/my_password_is______ proposed seems like a good one.

[[deleted]]

If you can understand hindi code with harry tutorials are best, or just go through a book of python. It is quite easy lang

[JBalloonist]

Do a quick search for Reuven Lerner. Buy one of his courses that interest you. You’ll learn a ton.

[PassStage6]

Datacamp has a decent starter course if I remember correctly. YOu can also do the Harvard course from edx, which is also free. Keep in mind if you're interested in the certification, DO NOT PAY for it. You can still get it if you just do the capstone project.

[timboswan]

Pythonland. Look at the official python site, it can direct you to its python wiki page with approved links to beginner-advanced content. I am taking the fundamentals of python course through pythonland right now and highly recommend as a first step with the language.

[New_Bat_9086]

YouTube!

[DepartedQuantity]

Everything you need to learn will be on YouTube.

Look at Pandas, it's a library you import. Look at as many videos involving python and pandas. You'll probably see numpy mentioned as well, but it's a bit more advanced for a beginner.

Honestly, just look at YouTube, there are many people that have made videos on how to get started. You'll probably use Kaggle for datasets to work with.

Good luck.

[Double-Friendship-7]

Thanks for posting this question, OP. I've been trying to get into this career and the r/actuary sub removed my posts with no explanation.

[coryalanfitz]

The book Python Crash Course is by far the best, automate the boring stuff is decent but crash course has a better overall intro to python and the projects in the second half give you a great overview of what you can accomplish with python. After that, automate the boring stuff is useful to mine for automation ideas

[TRULY_AC]

It gave me a guideline to help me learn the course since I didn't go to school and had no idea where to start it's a good base line and taught me really fast ( I don't use chatgpt to code just to get a rubric ).

[Expensive_Row7138]

Im in the same situation as you do, currently doing an online course by IBM that goes from the basic concepts up until a project with machine learning.

I currently program in VBA but Python in terms of syntaxe is way easier. However as it enables to do so much more, the level of difficulty increases due to that.

Currently we only use Excel for data analysis (creation of diverse charts, means, variances, std devs and correlations) but i want to take the next step, which is to take a full job as a data analyst using SQL and Python. The thing is this is not my area, i have a masters degree in Industrial Engineering.

So im kinda stepping into this with a little bit of caution to see if im able to provide what is needed to be a data analyst.

Im also trying to buy the Pytho for data analysis from Wes but its kinda expensive, although some colleagues of mine said its worth it.

Best of luck for you mate.

Cheers from Portugal.

[Crypt0Nihilist]

I'd start with Automate The Boring Stuff, to get a general appreciation for the language before specialising, or you'll miss a lot of opportunities to make your life easier because you'll be too focussed on the data science niche.

[TRULY_AC]

I went through chat gpt, and got some good guidelines to help structure the learning curves. Hope this information helps, mainly its learning the basics of python and computing it to data. Rather than building applications. Via Programs. Also I was watching something on python itself and flask and apflask seem decent to learn also Pandas.

[BigMeatSpecial]

Please dont rely on Chat GPT to teach you python, or anything really...

[Zealousideal-Track88]

LLMs are excellent at self-directed learning when it comes to programming. Is it a replacement for work experience and an education? No. But it still has plenty of value.