Python Programmer

Datacamp offers a great introduction to Python (and R). I've tried a taking python courses elsewhere at least twice before, but didn't stick with it. I think Datacamp worked well for me because I had a clearer idea of how I wanted to use it and Datacamp presented new concepts in exactly that environment.

I think they have pretty good stuff, really, but if you follow the whole course, you'll forget most of it by the time you finish it. It is important to have side projects as you go through the material.

I found it to be mostly helpful, but I felt that many of the examples/exercises were a bit too simplistic. What really helped me was to use the datasets I worked with on a daily basis and analyze them using what I had learned in Python.

It's pretty cookie-cutter, mile wide and an inch deep, at least in my experience. I haven't really learned much new, and have to slog through a lot of click-click-click to get to anything of value.Classic Display video - Multiple choice/Code Fill in the Blank - Next model of online training. My opinion is one or two versions later you will be back to square one unless you find an external resource to really go a bit deeper

So far its been a mostly positive experience. About 70% of the time the challenges seem too easy. The other 30% of the time I end up spending 30-45 min rewatching the training vids/googling/searching stackoverflow and getting a bit frustrated. I enjoyed the free section enough to sign up on a monthly basis.

DataCamp is phenomenal for R for the most part, but the Python courses are rather underwhelming.

I am a huge fan of datacamp and it really helped me break into the field. I've done ~40 courses over the past 2 years.

The first thing I noticed about Datacamp was that they did a lot of stuff for me. I'd open up an exercise and most of the code had been written already, with a couple of spaces with '____' where I should fill in the right answer. I thought this was really frustrating, because there was never any point in the process where they explained to me why we needed to perform whatever operation it was. I'm like 50 hours in, and I'm not sure I could do any of this without Datacamp's prompting. I think this is the worst part of the Datacamp curriculum. I feel that I'm paying Datacamp to teach me Python syntax and when to use it (not just how to use it), and I feel like I'm not learning either of those things.Second, although Datacamp courses offer short video segments that putatively teach the course, the exercises were essentially big text boxes. Oftentimes the video and text would be somewhat out of sync, and sometimes it felt like entire sections had been omitted between text and video. This made watching the videos almost completely optional, and considering most of them are shorter than 5 min, there was never enough time to substantively introduce the material anyway.Third, the exercises rarely feel practical. There are some nice real-world datasets used, but because of what I describe in my first paragraph, it's hard to actually interface with them. You're not really working with them yourself. Beyond that, it doesn't feel like Datacamp spends a lot of time trying to motivate the problem. Why do we need to take this approach, etc. There are often domain-specific considerations that influence how the problem may best be solved, and that stuff is completely omitted. This ends up meaning that these supposedly practical exercises end up anything but.

I feel like they did a good job of introducing the bare necessities of what you need to know for each topic. However, as with all online courses, you only get out of it as much as you put in. It is easy to power through every course but I think the best way is to slow down, and tuck each concept away for future reference.Overall, I enjoyed datacamp, but again the exercises could be improved by not providing the code skeleton. I also feel like a years subscription is unnecessary unless you plan to work < 2-5 hours a week on it. Month-to-month makes more financial sense even if you plan to finish both the Python and R career tracks.

I used Datacamp to transition from R to Python. I just grinded through all the Python courses and found it useful. Not sure it was the most efficient method, but I think it was pretty efficient.

Data camp is nice starting point for learning very basics on R or Python for Data science as you can start immediate and do not need in install anything. After one month you will feel the need for a live instructor led course online

I highly recommend DataCamp for anyone considering R and/or Python for intense data analysis. Whether your interest is related to data you already have and desire to apply statistical analysis properly or your interest is in ultimately becoming a Data Scientist, DataCamp is the way to go.