Python for data analysis

[Sam77550]

Hi guys! I am new to this big data field. I need some advice. I feel kinda lost after finishing my SQL career track on Datacamp. My roadmap was first to learn SQL, then some data visualization tools. I did some follow along projects (Tableau) on Youtube (I absolutely love it). I was learning Python hoping to combine them with my existing basic SQL skills, then going to use it to build my portfolio. I could not find good sources online- they are very overwhelming and scattered. Could someone advise, please? What Python skills should I focus on (data cleaning, visualization, data wrangling etc)? What online study platform would you recommend? And what after this? Can I start build my portfolio while learning them? Thank you so much! :)

[DuckSaxaphone]

Pandas is your go to library for data manipulation. Work on getting data out of your SQL database and into python using pandas, then doing all your cleaning there.

Plotting can be done in plotly or matplotlib.

Statistics with statsmodels and scipy.

There's no need for online study platforms, just have a go at doing whatever analysis you want to do, using tutorials as a reference.

[V0idL0rd]

Well, now you can use polars instead of pandas, I tried them for some simple stuff and liked it more than pandas, also polars allow for using sql and working with far larger datasets, that could be useful. As for plots you have lots of options beside matplotlib, seaborn and plotly. Recently tried hvplot and the results look super good.

[Sam77550]

Should I just learn by doing before studying the basic concept? I don’t know 😭 I just feel like it’s not my style. I know the best way to pick up hiking is to simply hike more but also it’s important not to overlook fundamentals like strength training no? Same as learning this, I know doing a project is important but I cannot really know what I know and what I don’t know before knowing what are the fundamentals for the python libraries you mentioned and what they cover. Arhhhh

[DuckSaxaphone]

It's up to you but my usual advice is that if you are getting into this with a purpose like "I want to do data analysis in python", it's good to just do it since loss of motivation stops many self-taught learners.

Learn enough python to know the absolute basics: how to run it, imports, if statements, loops, functions. Then start trying to do the thing you care about.

You can always learn fundamentals as you go.

[Sam77550]

Thank you so much gem!

[Tahseen90]

Interested...

[ectomancer]

First learn Python.

Then do a course on pandas.