11 Best Resources to Learn Data Science and Machine Learning for Beginners

javinpaul - Feb 10 '20 - - Dev Community

Disclosure: This post includes affiliate links; I may receive compensation if you purchase products or services from the different links provided in this article.


image credit --- Become a Machine Learning Engineer by Educative

Many programmers are moving towards data science and machine learning hoping for better pay and career opportunities --- and there is a reason for it. The Data scientist has been ranked the number one job on Glassdoor for last a couple of years and the average salary of a data scientist is over** $120,000** in the United States according to Indeed.

Data science is not only a rewarding career in terms of money but it also provides the opportunity for you to solve some of the world's most interesting problems. IMHO, that's the main motivation many good programmers are moving towards data science, machine learning, and artificial intelligence.

If you are in the same boat and thinking about becoming a data scientist or start your career in Data Science and Machine Learning, then you have come to the right place.

In this article, I am going to share some of the best online courses you can take to become a data scientist by learning about data science, machine learning, and artificial intelligence.

When it comes to programming languages and libraries, Python and R are clearly two leading programming languages in the areas of machine learning, data analytics, and artificial intelligence. Many exciting developments are happening in those languages and they already have some useful libraries to start with.

If you've got some programming or scripting experience, these courses will teach you the techniques used by real data scientists and machine learning practitioners in the tech industry and prepare you for a move into this hot and lucrative career path.

11 Best Books and Courses to learn Data Science and Machine Learning from Scratch

Here is my list of the top five online courses you can take to learn data science and machine learning and become a data scientist.

These courses will provide you with valuable insights, advice, tips, and recommendations to take your data science career to the next level.

It rightly contains the courses on both Python and R, two of the most popular programming languages of data scientists.

1. Data Science A-Z™: Real-Life Data Science Exercises Included

If you have an interest in data analytics and machine learning and are wondering about how to become a top-level data scientist, then this is the right course for you.

In this course, you will not only learn the basic steps on how to become a data scientist but also real-world tips and tricks to take your data science career to the next level.

This is not one of those fluffy classes where everything works out just the way it should and your training is smooth sailing. This course throws you into the deep end.

It's Extremely Hands-On... Incredibly Practical... Unbelievably Real!

Here is the link to join the course --- Data Science by Kiril Eremenko

2. Python For Data Analysis

This is the first specialized Python book on Data Analysis and Data Science. This Python book will cover all the basics a Data Scientist or Data engineer should know, like data aggregations and time series.

At the same time, it also walks through basic python exercises that will teach you how to apply Pandas to actual problems. This is one of the things I always look at books and online courses as we learn more about solving real problems and using our skills.

This is probably the best book for manipulating, processing, cleaning, and crunching data in Python and learning Pandas for real work.

Here is the link to buy this book - Python for Data Analysis

[3. ]Python for Data Science and Machine

Many of my friends and colleagues who have moved towards data science have chosen Python as their choice of language. One reason is that Python is probably the most popular language and offers everything.

They were already using Python for scripting and object-oriented programming and it's easy to learn data science if you already know the language rather than learning a new language like R.

This is one of the best courses to master data science and machine learning python libraries.

Here is the link to join this course - Python for Data Science Bootcamp

You will learn how to use most of the popular Python machine learning and deep learning libraries like NumPy, Pandas, Seaborn, Matplotlib, Plotly, Scikit-learn, Meeshkan, TensorFlow, Keras, and more!

This course is designed for both beginners with some programming experience and experienced developers looking to make the jump to data science!

It is comparable to other data science boot camps that usually cost thousands of dollars, but now, you can learn all that information at a fraction of the cost --- with just **$9.99 **if you're lucky to get it during Udemy's flash sale.

4. Data Science, Deep Learning, and Machine Learning With Python:

This is one of the rare hands-on courses to learn the neural networks, artificial intelligence, and machine learning techniques that employers are seeking.

This course is designed by analyzing the real requirements in data scientist job listings from the biggest tech employers, which means it covers the machine learning and data mining techniques real employers are looking for.

Here is the link to join this course --- Data Science with Python

5. Machine Learning by Andrew Ng

This is probably the most popular course to learn machine learning provided by Stanford University and Coursera, which also provides certification.

You'll be tested on each and every topic that you learn in this course, and based on the completion and the final score that you get, you'll also be awarded the certificate.

This course is free but you need to pay for certificates if you want. Though, it does provide value to you as a developer and gives you a good understanding of the mathematics behind all the machine learning algorithms that you come up with.

I personally really like this one. [Andrew Ng] takes you through the course using Octave, which is a good tool to test your algorithm before making it go live on your project.

6. Machine Learning with Python Cookbook

This is another Python book that is focused on Data Science, Machine Learning, and Deep Learning. It starts with a few common topics like Linear regression and KNN and then goes into more deep learning concepts like neural networks.

Also, like many other O'Reilly programming books, it has a lot of great practical examples that are well explained and helps you to consolidate your learning.

If you want, you can combine with an online course likePython for Data Science and Machine Learning Bootcamp by Jose Portilla on Udemy, which also teaches Python with real-world problems to get the best of both worlds.

7. Tableau 10 A-Z: Hands-On Tableau Training For Data Science!

Tableau is one of the popular tools among data scientists and that's because there is a great demand for data scientists who know Tableau.

This course will teach you Tableau 10 for data science step-by-step. It contains real-life data analytics exercises and quizzes to give you first-hand experience with Tableau.

You'll learn all of the features in Tableau that allow you to explore, experiment with, fix, prepare, and present data easily, quickly, and beautifully.

8. R Programming A-Z: R For Data Science With Real Exercises!

R is another popular programming language for data science and this course provides a good overview of R from a data science perspective. There are lots of R courses and lectures out there.

However, R has a very steep learning curve and students often get overwhelmed.

This course is truly step-by-step. In every new tutorial, we build on what had already learned and move one extra step forward.

9. Data Science with R by Pluralsight\

Data science is the practice of transforming data into knowledge, and R is one of the most popular programming language used by data scientists.

In this course, you'll learn first learn about the practice of data science, the R programming language, and how they can be used to transform data into actionable insight.

Next, you'll learn how to transform and clean your data, create and interpret descriptive statistics, data visualizations, and statistical models.

Finally, you'll learn how to handle Big Data, make predictions using machine learning algorithms, and deploy R to production.

10. Hands-On Machine Learning with Scikit-Learn and TensorFlow

If you would prefer learning about Tensorflow, then this is one of the best Python books currently available in the market.

Even though it is slightly lighter on the machine learning but the second half of the book is fully dedicated to neural networks.

It also covers topics like convolutional neural networks, autoencoders, drop-out, and other vital issues too deep learning with Tensorflow.

11. Grokking The Data Science

This is an excellent course to learn Data Science by [Samia Khalid] on The Educative . I am a big fan of Educative's highly interactive and well-structured courses like Grokking the System Design Interview and Grokking the Coding Interview, and this course is on a similar league.

Taught by Samia Khalid, an AI expert from Microsoft this course will teach you everything you need to become a Data Scientist.

This course is your comprehensive guide to getting your start as a data scientist. It's very easy to follow, hands-on, and fun explanations of all the essential topics in one place so you can quickly and efficiently learn what you need to thrive as a data scientist.

best text-based course to learn Data Science

That's all about some of the best resources, books, and courses to learn Data Science and Machine learning. As I said in the first paragraph, data science is a very lucrative career with lots of exciting opportunities to solve some of the most interesting problems in the world.

If you have a passion for data analytics and problem-solving and want to make a difference both in your career and the world, this is the right time to make your move.

I'll write more about data science and machine learning for both Python and Java developers as my knowledge grows in these areas.

Many of my readers have asked about libraries, frameworks, and books in Java and Python for machine learning and that's on my list of things to do this year. These online courses are a good point to starts with.

BTW, here are some other programming and development courses you may like to explore:

Closing Notes

Thanks, You made it to the end of the article ... Good luck with your Data Science and Machine learning journey! It's certainly not going to be easy, but by following this roadmap and guide, you are one step closer to becoming a Data Scientist.

If you like these data science and machine learning courses, then please share with your friends and colleagues, and don't forget to follow javinpaul on Twitter!

P.S. --- If you need some FREE resources, you can check out Deep Learning Prerequisites: The Numpy Stack in Python to start your journey.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .