Python as a first coding language

About this course

Why learn to code?Maybe you are a College student wanting to learn to code, someone looking for a career change to coding or a Data Scientist needing code skills.  But coding can feel hard to break into and seems increasingly dominated by people who have written code from an early age.  This course is designed to help people start to get real value for coding.  Jay has 20+ years of experience in leading teams in top tech organisations from small companies to multinationals and a passion for enabling people to use code and technology in effective ways.Why start with Python?Python is regularly listed as one of the top languages to learn.  It's easy to get started with, the tools are free and it has support for a huge range of specific uses.  In particular, it's become the key language in data science with a recent report concluding: "By knowing Python, combined with a strong aptitude for quantitative reasoning and experimental analysis, you can strike gold in the industry."Why this course?There are plenty of reference books and online guides which will tell you the syntax of the Python language.  And these have a lot of value to any programmer building skills.  But a theoretical approach learning pages of Python instructions isn't the best way to start learning.  Or the most fun for that matter.In this course Jay will be focussing on concepts and how the language is used.  In particular the course focusses on data, because many Python users are interested in manipulating data.  The course builds from basic data types up through collections of data to modules and packages used to manage data.  And in parallel it builds from executing single Python instructions to creating programs and controlling the flow of code.

Course objectives

• introduce coding concepts through Python
• emphasize data manipulation using Python
• build foundational programming skills