If you’re reading this in 2019, you probably belong to the last generation of people who, by and large, have no coding ability whatsoever. They teach it in primary schools now.
And the reason they teach coding in schools is that it’s the most important, universal language there is. Almost the entire modern world is held in place by a vast foundational web of code, from the internet right down to the checkouts at your local grocery store.
DataCamp is here to help you catch up. If you’ve ever used Duolingo to brush up on your French or German, you’ll know what DataCamp is all about—it’s a gamified course that gives you the basics of coding through short, daily lessons compiled by expert instructors.
There are exercises, too, and any errors you make are swiftly picked up by the app’s personalized feedback system. The courses are optimized for mobile, so that you can do them on the go, and they cover the spectrum of coding areas with three languages: Python, R, and SQL.
At this point you’re probably wondering what Python, R, and SQL are. They’re programming languages, each with a different emphasis.
Python (named after Monty Python) is your all-purpose universal programming language. It was created with the express purpose of being as simple and accessible as possible, making it an ideal learning medium.
Python is the third most popular language after Java and C, but many prefer it over those. Just ask Google, Facebook, Instagram, Spotify, Amazon, and Wikipedia, among others.
DataCamp will take you through Python and the NumPy package for scientific computing. If you stick around for the intermediate course, you’ll learn Matplotlib and DataFrames with pandas. Fun!
The other two programming languages are equally useful. R concerns statistical computing and graphics, while SQL concerns databases—a huge part of computer science. The course will teach you all about relational databases, and walk you through selecting columns, filtering rows, sorting, aggregate functions, grouping, and more.
Don’t panic. All this coding talk is probably going over your head, but that’s to be expected. A few days with DataCamp will get you up to speed.
Download the app for free on Google Play and the App Store.
