Notices tagged with datacamp
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Linux Walt (@lnxw37j1) {3EB165E0-5BB1-45D2-9E7D-93B31821F864} (lnxw37j1@gnusocial.jp)'s status on Sunday, 09-Feb-2025 13:25:07 JST 
Linux Walt (@lnxw37j1) {3EB165E0-5BB1-45D2-9E7D-93B31821F864}
#DataCamp recently added a new gamification competition feature, trying to get people to use it consistently. But in this week's competition, it looks like one could almost reach the top 10 by doing a single practice quiz (250 XP) each day. -
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Linux Walt (@lnxw37j1) {3EB165E0-5BB1-45D2-9E7D-93B31821F864} (lnxw37j1@gnusocial.jp)'s status on Friday, 20-Dec-2024 12:16:37 JST
Linux Walt (@lnxw37j1) {3EB165E0-5BB1-45D2-9E7D-93B31821F864}
I compared #DataCamp to #DataQuest https://www.dataquest.io/
I felt like DQ's teaching method would be much faster and less prone to "I just did this in the prior course, but I can't recall a bit of it". However, DQ has only ~70 courses (versus 300+ on DataCamp) and won't tell you how much it costs without first creating an account. (Quite a scumbag marketing tactic. I'm supposing it is used to persuade clueless investors that DC's growth is unending.) -
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Linux Walt (@lnxw37j1) {3EB165E0-5BB1-45D2-9E7D-93B31821F864} (lnxw37j1@gnusocial.jp)'s status on Wednesday, 11-Dec-2024 15:47:57 JST
Linux Walt (@lnxw37j1) {3EB165E0-5BB1-45D2-9E7D-93B31821F864}
Anyway, Brandon ( @bthall ) was talking about the incomes that data scientists make, and some of those numbers are way more than I've ever been paid. So I accepted his offer to pay for #DataCamp. -
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Linux Walt (@lnxw37j1) {3EB165E0-5BB1-45D2-9E7D-93B31821F864} (lnxw37j1@gnusocial.jp)'s status on Wednesday, 11-Dec-2024 15:42:55 JST
Linux Walt (@lnxw37j1) {3EB165E0-5BB1-45D2-9E7D-93B31821F864}
So let's start with #DataCamp. I first heard of them because of https://www.datacamp.com/blog/an-important-update-from-the-datacamp-board-of-directors [www datacamp com] / https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/daveyalba/datacamp-sexual-harassment-metoo-tech-startup [buzzfeednews com]
@bthall (Brandon) and I discussed it a little bit at the time.
I haven't heard anything else about sexual harassment or assaults, so I presume that people's behavior changed.
So a year or so ago, Brandon offered to pay for a year of DataCamp in order to help me prepare for a better job in the future. (Yes, I know I'm old, but I have no pension or other benefits from my previous jobs. I expect to have to work for the rest of my life.) I looked it over and they cover many different things that have been on my "learn this" list for years.
Examples include #R-lang and #Julia-lang, but they even have a single #Scala-lang course. -
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Linux Walt (@lnxw37j1) {3EB165E0-5BB1-45D2-9E7D-93B31821F864} (lnxw37j1@gnusocial.jp)'s status on Wednesday, 11-Dec-2024 15:20:28 JST
Linux Walt (@lnxw37j1) {3EB165E0-5BB1-45D2-9E7D-93B31821F864}
There's another track where I've completed all the courses except one. If it turns out that tomorrow is the end, I'll try to see whether I can squeeze out four hours to complete it before they shut me down.
And I'll get additional "XP" gamification points and I'll hit 175 consecutive days (with an asterisk ... after I hit 125 or so, they awarded me two free days, which came in handy when the Internet service was down for a day and a half and again when power was out for most of an evening.)
I don't really care about gamification points, as I don't see any advantage to them. I'm sure #DataCamp is seeing some increased engagement and interaction, or they'd probably drop it.
What mattered to me was trying to keep pushing that consecutive days number higher. Not just so I could see it on the site. Also because I know that I have to do the coursework regularly (such as every day) if I want to see results. -
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Linux Walt (@lnxw37j1) {3EB165E0-5BB1-45D2-9E7D-93B31821F864} (lnxw37j1@gnusocial.jp)'s status on Wednesday, 11-Dec-2024 15:11:36 JST
Linux Walt (@lnxw37j1) {3EB165E0-5BB1-45D2-9E7D-93B31821F864}
So the #DataCamp subscription ends tonight or tomorrow (not sure which). I rushed and completed the track (Associate Python Developer) I was working on, but ran out of time to complete the bigger version or take the exam that shows whether I know what I'm doing (I don't! I'll explain in later posts under #DataCamp )
https://gnusocial.jp/tag/datacamp (some socnet sites [such as Friendica instances] will also create local to their site copies of known hashtags ... so you should be able to go to the local tag URL and see this entire series) -
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Linux Walt (@lnxw37j1) {3EB165E0-5BB1-45D2-9E7D-93B31821F864} (lnxw37j1@gnusocial.jp)'s status on Tuesday, 10-Dec-2024 15:29:37 JST
Linux Walt (@lnxw37j1) {3EB165E0-5BB1-45D2-9E7D-93B31821F864}
This is probably not a #DataCamp exclusive, but I can't recall when it has happened before.
After several hours of doing coursework, you get a page that just won't finish loading (neither the 'run code' nor the 'submit assignment' buttons load). Typically, when that happens, just go to bed and reload in the morning. (Reloading doesn't help ... I suspect that the company has to reset something, which gets downloaded when someone resets overnight / early morning.)
And it is Monday night / Tuesday morning, so there's not the "urgent" necessity for their technicians to do infrastructure work overnight ... I honestly think a server gets "stuck" -
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Linux Walt (@lnxw37j1) {3EB165E0-5BB1-45D2-9E7D-93B31821F864} (lnxw37j1@gnusocial.jp)'s status on Monday, 09-Dec-2024 12:57:35 JST
Linux Walt (@lnxw37j1) {3EB165E0-5BB1-45D2-9E7D-93B31821F864}
It's sort of important that you don't misunderstand me. I'm not really trashing #Datacamp here. I feel like DC can be a useful tool for you *if* you start out by looking at https://www.datacamp.com/certification and https://www.datacamp.com/tracks/skill and https://www.datacamp.com/tracks/career and https://www.datacamp.com/courses-all before you start, so you can chart out a learning plan that doesn't overload you with courses that may not contribute much to your overall goal. You do have a goal, right? -
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Linux Walt (@lnxw37j1) {3EB165E0-5BB1-45D2-9E7D-93B31821F864} (lnxw37j1@gnusocial.jp)'s status on Monday, 09-Dec-2024 12:51:03 JST
Linux Walt (@lnxw37j1) {3EB165E0-5BB1-45D2-9E7D-93B31821F864}
Still working on finishing the track on #DataCamp. But I wanted to add a little more to this.
It took me most of a year to discover this, but I struggled mightily with data analysis functions in #Python + #Numpy + #Pandas, in #R-lang, and in #Julia-lang. #SQL was much easier to comprehend. But I've recently had a few courses where they were covering pure Python, without the data analysis packages, and that is totally different.
Even though I've barely touched Python in the past 20 years or so, it feel familiar and almost everything we do feels "natural". With the data analysis / data science content, it feels like there are dozens of nearly identically-named functions and methods, each with its own special syntax and list of arguments to pass to it.
fleep(ugarit=1, dopongo='nezhir', neeq=['bijoc', 'umbagula'])
and
floop(nsommus=17, dubunoid=['nezhir', 5, 'immertel'], neeq=['bijoc', 'umbagula'])
are easily mixed up and I always (no, seriously always) pick the wrong one first.
I guess that's not a DataCamp issue, but more of a problem with the tools being covered.
But DataCamp's methods don't help with this much. Each one-hour chapter of each four-hour course is supposed to be a sequence of bite-sized tools that one learns to use and then remembers it when it comes up again later. Unfortunately, it quickly turns into a big ball of mud. -
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Linux Walt (@lnxw37j1) {3EB165E0-5BB1-45D2-9E7D-93B31821F864} (lnxw37j1@gnusocial.jp)'s status on Sunday, 08-Dec-2024 03:52:20 JST
Linux Walt (@lnxw37j1) {3EB165E0-5BB1-45D2-9E7D-93B31821F864}
Okay, still working on #DataCamp, but the first thing I've learned is that I *really* do not benefit from watching videos as compared to reading books. I watch a video, then immediately go into the exercises needing notes in order to recall any part of what I just watched.
Since the data science functions being studied (in Julia-lang, R-lang, and Python + numpy + pandas) consist of dozens of similarly-named functions and methods, each with its own very different set of arguments, they're already hard to keep sorted in my head. The video method doesn't help with that.
Now, this may just be me. One of my friends ("S") says she doesn't read well enough to use books as her primary learning channel. But even she had to buy some books to help with her own video-based learning. There are reasons that in-person college / university learning programs also feature textbooks as a major part of their learning. -
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Linux Walt (@lnxw37j1) {3EB165E0-5BB1-45D2-9E7D-93B31821F864} (lnxw37j1@gnusocial.jp)'s status on Thursday, 05-Dec-2024 12:17:52 JST
Linux Walt (@lnxw37j1) {3EB165E0-5BB1-45D2-9E7D-93B31821F864}
I'll try to write up a post-mortem of my #DataCamp experience later this month, after my subscription ends. -
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Linux Walt (@lnxw37j1) {3EB165E0-5BB1-45D2-9E7D-93B31821F864} (lnxw37j1@gnusocial.jp)'s status on Sunday, 01-Dec-2024 04:00:59 JST
Linux Walt (@lnxw37j1) {3EB165E0-5BB1-45D2-9E7D-93B31821F864}
@lnxw37j1 Hopefully, @bthall won't misinterpret this. I am genuinely glad he got me a year of #DataCamp. -
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Linux Walt (@lnxw37j1) {3EB165E0-5BB1-45D2-9E7D-93B31821F864} (lnxw37j1@gnusocial.jp)'s status on Sunday, 01-Dec-2024 03:14:07 JST
Linux Walt (@lnxw37j1) {3EB165E0-5BB1-45D2-9E7D-93B31821F864}
Less than two weeks left of #DataCamp. I have learned a lot, including:
* I'm not really a "watch video" learner. I'll see something and immediately after the video I cannot remember what to enter.
* Many DC courses feel a little rough. "Plot this against that" doesn't always mean this is X and that is Y. Further, a lot of times, the exercises go beyond the video lecture, so I look up Python | R-lang | Julia | SQL commands to achieve the requested results, but they're usually not the commands DC wants me to use.
* Often, the instructions in DC exercises are just big gray blocks to me. I don't read them because the level of detail is too high. IRL, there's generally a sort of introduction / summary and a conclusion summary that can inform the early work. This allows details to wait until required.
Probably next step is to get physical books to continue, renew, and expand my learning. -
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Linux Walt (@lnxw37j1) {3EB165E0-5BB1-45D2-9E7D-93B31821F864} (lnxw37j1@gnusocial.jp)'s status on Wednesday, 13-Nov-2024 12:13:36 JST
Linux Walt (@lnxw37j1) {3EB165E0-5BB1-45D2-9E7D-93B31821F864}
Less than a month left of the #DataCamp subscription. I need to look at the "professional" tracks and pick something that I can accomplish in that time.
Lots not to like ... in many ways, their courses and especially their practice exercises look like they hired a couple of college kids to build them over a weekend, then posted them without having an editor look them over.
In multiple courses under the subjects of Python, SQL, Julia, and R-Lang, the exercises will mis-spell a language keyword or some library function / method that is widely used in Data Science. In a couple, the answer is already entered into the question ... just select the choice that matches what they've just showed.
In the "real world" projects, they tend to go beyond what the courses have covered. Yet, they're opinionated about which functions / methods are used (and sometimes even the order they're used in). So you do some research, find some functions that produce the exact desired results, and the project is rejected because your research didn't uncover the desired functions to use.
Now, there's lots to like, too. For example, despite having both R-lang and Julia (and Scala) on my to-learn list for years, this was my first hands-on experience with all three. -
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Linux Walt (@lnxw37j1) {3EB165E0-5BB1-45D2-9E7D-93B31821F864} (lnxw37j1@gnusocial.jp)'s status on Friday, 01-Nov-2024 12:26:11 JST
Linux Walt (@lnxw37j1) {3EB165E0-5BB1-45D2-9E7D-93B31821F864}
So this part of the #DataCamp #Python programming track is much much easier. Why? Because it is closer to regular Python rather than Data Science python. -
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Linux Walt (@lnxw37j1) {3EB165E0-5BB1-45D2-9E7D-93B31821F864} (lnxw37j1@gnusocial.jp)'s status on Sunday, 29-Sep-2024 09:07:15 JST
Linux Walt (@lnxw37j1) {3EB165E0-5BB1-45D2-9E7D-93B31821F864}
Ever since my mom's death, I've been a little frazzled. In the #DataCamp program, I did a 22-hour "R Programming Fundamentals" track. At the end of it is an optional skill assessment.
I drew a complete blank in 4 of the first 5 questions, so I didn't even finish it. #r-lang
While I return to the Python tracks, I'll try to do some more R stuff on the side. Now that I'm sure I absolutely will not get the approximately 200 hours of #Python related coursework done before the end of December, so I will have to pick and choose which subsets to complete. -
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Linux Walt (@lnxw37j1) {3EB165E0-5BB1-45D2-9E7D-93B31821F864} (lnxw37j1@gnusocial.jp)'s status on Wednesday, 18-Sep-2024 13:09:48 JST
Linux Walt (@lnxw37j1) {3EB165E0-5BB1-45D2-9E7D-93B31821F864}
So, we're taking stuff that I already don't really understand and wrapping them in functions. The "wrap this in a function" is mostly pretty easy, except the part about renaming a function-internal variable. That part is also easy, but I never remember it until I submit the exercise.
I think I need to download some data from the US Census Bureau and start chewing through their data with R-Lang, JuliaLang, and so on.
Too bad #DataCamp doesn't also cover GNU Octave. It's been so long since I used Octave and SciLab that I'm sure I'd just sit there staring at a blank screen. -
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Linux Walt (@lnxw37j1) {3EB165E0-5BB1-45D2-9E7D-93B31821F864} (lnxw37j1@gnusocial.jp)'s status on Wednesday, 18-Sep-2024 10:47:51 JST
Linux Walt (@lnxw37j1) {3EB165E0-5BB1-45D2-9E7D-93B31821F864}
Pushing back the "skill assessment" in R-Lang because I'm 100% sure I'd fail it currently. I need to check, because if they have a similar assessment for JuliaLang, I'd like to prepare and take it also.
In other news, I had a certificate I was pursuing that would have required about 200 hours between the time I started on it in early August and the end of December. But from mid-August, my available time and concentration to put into the program have been about half what they were previously, as I'm being squeezed between my mom's death and extra grandchild duties because Son_2 and his wife are about to have another baby.
#DataCamp -
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Linux Walt (@lnxw37j1) {3EB165E0-5BB1-45D2-9E7D-93B31821F864} (lnxw37j1@gnusocial.jp)'s status on Sunday, 05-May-2024 00:03:55 JST
Linux Walt (@lnxw37j1) {3EB165E0-5BB1-45D2-9E7D-93B31821F864}
I've been persistent in #DataCamp's "rate this lesson" and "rate this course" to talk about unnecessary pedanticism, but that's probably the wrong terminology.
An example:
```
SELECT common_name, COUNT(*)
FROM biology
WHERE common_name LIKE '%lady%'
GROUP BY common_name
ORDER BY common_name;
```
gives the same results as
```
SELECT common_name, COUNT(common_name)
FROM biology
WHERE common_name LIKE '%lady%'
GROUP BY common_name
ORDER BY common_name;
```
when there are no nulls (missing values) in the common_name field.
And without some clues in the assignment text, it isn't possible to know which one their JS-based checker will accept. So in the majority of assignments, I get things like this "wrong" in the first pass.
I've lately been vocal about my perception that quality control and beta testing should have exposed such things and led to their correction before deployment to paying customers.
In the case of the #SQL courses, I did recently have a multi-part assignment where they asked for the NOT NULL version from the start, but only in the 3rd or 4th part of the assignment did they expressly say they wanted that and use pre-entered SQL scaffolding to show why it matters in that specific case.
In other news, I've temporarily de-emphasized both #Python and #R-lang (and delayed my exploration of #Julia) because I'm on a "track" that focuses on SQL. At the current rate, I should be finished with the SQL track & emphasis in a month or so.
I've also noticed they have some courses that cover MSExcel / PowerBI, Tableau, Google Sheets, and (of course) "AI". I expect to take the intro courses for most of these topics. I don't typically use spreadsheets except as gridded formatting tools for lists, but many years ago I used Lotus 1-2-3 and Quattro Pro and even took some classes. So relearning such things as formulas and internal scripting may be helpful in making these tools more broadly useful. -
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LinuxWalt (@lnxw48a1) {3EB165E0-5BB1-45D2-9E7D-93B31821F864} (lnxw48a1@nu.federati.net)'s status on Friday, 22-Mar-2024 10:54:01 JST 
LinuxWalt (@lnxw48a1) {3EB165E0-5BB1-45D2-9E7D-93B31821F864}
I haven't been anywhere in a couple of weeks, except:
Last weekend, while my son and daughter-in-law were out of town for their first weekend away from the kids, #GS4 had a medical issue and I had to drive him to the doctor's office.
Thus, it is likely that exposure to the doctor gave me a cold.
It is getting better, and will probably be gone completely in another day or two.
The cold seems to have sapped my energy. I've been doing an hour or so of #DataCamp, plus another hour or so of #Coursera each night, but recently it is either one or the other.
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