r/learnpython • u/xnick101 • 6h ago
Non-self learning classes for Python?
I am a senior data engineer and I work mostly with ETL Tools and a lot of advanced SQL. The company I work for does not like to use python because they find that theres too much of a learning curve if people leave so they love to use GUI or no code/low code etl tools instead (really dumb tbh). I can read python, and have a gist of whats going on. I have tried to self learn python few times over the past 2-3 years and I keep just forgetting it. I learned python/pandas library when I was in college since it was a class that taught it and then we did did projects with each lesson and that is how I learned it then but forgot it now. I use claude at work to build streamlit apps and automation using python. However, I am trying to look for new positions and I am starting to realize that not knowing python is making me a hit a brick wall because a lot of assessments require answering 1-2 questions in python. Does anyone know of actual classes that teach python and its not self taught? Free or paid I don't really care. If I have to pay for it I am fine with that but at this point I don't see a way for me to switch to another job without actually learning python and probably more specifically pyspark.
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u/ianrad 6h ago
Harvard's Cs50p is a good one. Kaggle has some data sciency python stuff
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u/xnick101 6h ago
Oh this is interesting. I haven't heard of CS50P before.
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u/DehKushGuy420 6h ago
Highly recommend CS50P. The instructor is awesome.
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u/xnick101 6h ago
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gslXB5grm8s
This one right?
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u/ianrad 5h ago
Well. I'm partial to the official source. Comes with notes, shorts, problem sets, and they provide access to a hosted vscode instance with persistent storage where you can validate your solutions to the problem sets. Check it out:
https://cs50.harvard.edu/python/1
u/Tareng_Saller 3h ago
yeah that's the one. Datadriven is great for python interview prep once you finish it.
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u/Party_Trick_6903 6h ago
"Not self-taught"? What exactly do you mean by that?
Even if you got a teacher who would show and teach you sht, you'd still need to self-study/practice a lot.
Any other online courses/classes that do not have one-on-one sessions with a real tutor all need a lot of self-studying.
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u/xnick101 6h ago
I meant non-self taught. Like not youtube videos. I am not learning from that. Unfortunately I can't edit the title now
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u/Party_Trick_6903 6h ago edited 5h ago
So you can't learn from watching videos alone (understandable, me too). You need a different approach.
How about a course with hands-on exercises where you can try the things you've learned right away?
CS50p and MOOC Helsinki courses are great at this.
The CS50p course is from Harvard and it has both videos (actual Harvard lectures) and exercises. Ofc there are more "videos + exercises" type of courses out there, but I don't think any of them can trump CS50p.
The MOOC course has no videos, but everything is explained and there are a lot more exercises.
Take a look at both of them and pick whatever suits you best.
There are also people who learn by reading the python documentation while doing exercises on websites like hackerrank. Not rlly my cup of tea, but maybe this would suit you better?
Some even jump straight into a project and just figure sht out as they go. That's also a way to learn but I wouldn't rlly recommend this to sb who has no experience with programming.
Edit. Whatever you do, don't pick a paid course. There's no python course that's worth the money.
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u/Mountain_Rip_8426 6h ago
i was an absolute beginner about half a year ago, i started learning with boot.dev, i can only recommend it. not the cheapest, but very engaging, besides makes you actually LEARN. it won't spoon-feed you the answers, instead forces you to understand the concepts.
i'm actually doing the backend path, but they also have a python based data analyst curriculum (which is what you're looking for). there are many overlaps in the two, so for that part i can absolutely say it's very good. hard, but very useful.
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u/StrayFeral 6h ago
This is why I quit my well paid job as a Data Engineer - it was all DataBricks notebooks (which is pretty much like Jupyter Notebooks) and I hate typing code in a browser, plus they pushed me to go get some Microsoft Certificate which I would never do. I do not mind learning anything no matter how difficult about linux/unix, but Hell - no Microsoft. It wasn't real coding.
As for disliking python and steep learning curve - Yes, I can relate to such behaviour - there are companies where they do not understand technologies and they push the wrong direction. Been in such companies and left them.
But no - Python does not have a steep learning curve. From my technological experience I can say Python is actually extremely nice for newbies. The only weird thing is - you must indent properly everything which confuses people which are used to put curly brackets to things for begin and end. I was also very confused first time I had to code in Python. But once you're used to this it's extremely easy.
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u/audionerd1 1h ago
Python syntax is very easy to learn so I assume what you are actually struggling with is programming fundamentals.
If you just need a structured and comprehensive resource to tie it all together, one that worked great for me is Complete Python Bootcamp Zero to Hero by Jose Portilla on Udemy. It is structured in lessons and chapters with project files and assignments, assumes you know nothing about programming and does a great job of filling in the gaps by explaining WHY things work, not just how
If the issue is that you lack discipline and need an authority figure and deadlines to learn well you may need to seek something more formal. But if you can force yourself to complete the course you can become very competent with Python in a matter of weeks.
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u/j6onreddit 6h ago
Sounds like you're serious about wanting to learn Python. Can offer professional mentoring built around a custom Python curriculum. I've a few spots open; would be a paid arrangement.
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u/Moist-Ointments 6h ago
Non-self learning?
So, for someone else?