One of the crucial steps for becoming a data scientist is understanding programming, meaning able to read, write, and modify scripts and programs as needed. This guide expects you to have no experience with programming, down to needing to install python on your computer for the first time. If you have experience with Python or programming you can complete the exercises and be excused from going through the lessons. Ask questions as you have them. Whether that be a peer in the studio, on Slack, or Googling, I almost promise someone has faced your problem before. I don't recommend doing this in one session. Break this up, making sure you are truly understanding each piece. Taking a break will show how much you are retaining and where gaps lie.  

Beginner 

You will walk through each lesson, which will build upon the past and continue to expose you to the fundamentals of programming. I will also include recommended exercises that should help test and understand your new skills. 

Terminal Navigation

A terminal (also known as command prompt or console) is a text-based program that takes your commands (entered through a keyboard) and runs through the commands through the operating system. This means that there is no interface or icons to click on, you must get used to navigating through a computer by understanding the file/directory structure. For example I know that a folder called "dogPics" is in the directory called "Documents" which itself is in your "User" directory, this culminates to User/Documents/dogPics if you wish to access these through a terminal. The syntax (structure and spelling of programming languages) varies between Mac/Linux and Windows, but the core concepts are identical.

You should feel comfortable moving through directories and creating new files and directories. If you run programs or scripts directly from the terminal you navigate to that script (ie find what folder its in) then type "python scriptName.py" ("python" may change depending on what your path has been set as. Python and Python3 are the default.

This section should not take long (though it is okay if it does) and is mainly included for those who have never used a terminal or command prompt before. These guides will walk you through accessing the terminal, the basic commands, and some use cases.


For Mac/Linux computers:

  • Complete the "Command Line" module

For Windows computers:

  • Complete "Basics"
  • Complete "Folders"
  • You may also wish to run through the module for Mac/Linux. While the commands will be different, it may help conceptualize this if the guide above does not.



Python Installation

Installing Python can be one of the most frustrating tasks if done without reading what you are clicking, mainly because of how Windows computers set paths. If you do not install Python to the right path (a variable for your computer that when entered tells your computer to access a certain directory) you will not be able to easily open it, which is a bad first start. I recommend you closely read and you will be fine. Next, you will want to download an Integrated Development Environment (IDE), which you will use to write and modify your programs. Python comes packaged with one, but there are other more feature-rich options. We recommend you install Microsoft Visual Studio Code (your icon should be blue when completed, purple icon is a different version), as it has color coding, debugging features, and Git integration.

You should have Python 3 installed and accessible via your Terminal and Visual Studio Code installed

Installing Python Guide

  • Complete the guide and successfully install Python. If you can open a command prompt, type "python" and the python environment should launch. To leave type "exit()" or close the terminal.

Microsoft Visual Studio Code

  • Install VSC


Variables (Primitive Data Types)

Lynda Guide

We will be referencing


Python Installation