Udacity

I'm willing to die on this hill: You can't become a good Data Scientist without excellent Software Engineering skills. For those of you who want a step-by-step breakdown of what you need to become a Data Scientist: 1. Learn Python ← this is key 2. Learn how to use Jupyter notebooks 3. Learn basic data wrangling and visualization 4. Learn SQL and how to work with relational databases 5. Learn the basics of data structures (arrays, lists, trees, graphs) and algorithms (sorting, searching, etc.) 6. Learn Object Oriented Programming 7. Learn how to build simple CI/CD pipelines to automate testing, deployment, and integration. 8. Get a foundation of linear algebra, probabilities, and statistics 9. Time to get into the fundamentals of Machine Learning I know it seems like a lot right now, but I started from zero one day, and so did thousands of others. @Udacity just released a revamped Data Science Nanodegree program. Everything you need is here, step by step, organized in the following major blocks: 1. Supervised Machine Learning 2. Software Engineering for Data Scientists 3. Data Science Pipelines 4. Unsupervised Machine Learning and Recommendation Systems They know what's up: notice how they spend time teaching you how to think like a Software Engineer. A "data scientist" who doesn't understand software is as useful as a wine bottle without a corkscrew. I'm linking to the Udacity program below so I don't get throttled.

AI and ML are completely transforming stock trading. We've been using algorithmic trading for a long time, but the decade ahead will see a completely new dimension of stock trading programs. If you are interested in building your own trading bot, check the "AI Trading Strategies" nanodegree from Udacity. This is a brand new, advanced class that will take you about 4 months to complete. And it goes very deep into trading strategies and how to use machine learning to automate the process. Not surprisingly, while they cover a lot of ground, the bulk of the course is in Reinforcement Learning, which is state-of-the-art for stock trading. I studied Reinforcement Learning for Trading back in graduate school, and back then, nothing was better than a combination of good financial indicators with Deep Q Learning. This class covers all of it. You can register, find the prerequisites to the class, and see the list of topics in the link below: bit.ly/40XgsXY

Learning Python is one of the best investments you’ll make in your life. ​ We are living in the middle of an AI revolution, and building software and learning how to work with data will set you apart for the next few decades. ​ My son is 8, and he's learning Python. I don't think there's a language with a brighter future. ​ If you want to start with Python, but don’t want to deal with the insane amount of video tutorials and resources out there, look at the "Programming for Data Science with Python" Nanodegree: ​ bit.ly/3zPq9vS ​ This is a ~3-month course that will cover: ​ • SQL — Because we need to access data • Unix shell — Because we like cool stuff • Python — Because it's the best • Version Control — Because it's fundamental • Tableau — Because data storytelling is key • HTML / CSS — Because you need to start building ​ The course’s emphasis is on teaching you Python, with a focus on data science. You'll learn the language and get a chance to practice using some of the most popular data science libraries, like Numpy and Pandas. ​ This class is for beginners. If you don't have any experience, this is for you. ​ Something important: There are a ton of problems you'll get to work on. This is a hands-on class, so you'll practice everything you learn. That’s how you get knowledge to stick. ​ If you want to see the full syllabus, here is the link: ​ cdn.sanity.io/files/tlr8oxjg… ​ Thanks to the team @udacity for collaborating with me on this post.

Some of the skills you need to start building AI applications: • Python and SQL • Transformer and diffusion models • LLMs and fine-tuning • Retrieval Augmented Generation • Vector databases Here is one of the most comprehensive programs that you'll find online: