Introduction to Python – Data Analysis and Packages

5-day and 3-day options available. The first two days (Mon-Tue) cover the basics of programming in Python. The second part (Wed-Fri) focuses on a number of Python packages that are commonly used for data analysis, including CSV, Numpy, SciPy and Pandas. A knowledge of these packages will help you to read in, manipulate and analyse a wide variety of datasets. Students with experience using Python can choose to attend only days 3-5, in order to focus on the use of these packages.

This course focuses on how to write and run simple data analysis programs in Python, and builds on these using some of the powerful extensions available in Python. This will be achieved through hands-on worked examples of real life data problems.

By the end of this course, you will have written a number of your own Python programs for manipulating large and varied datasets. You will have a working knowledge of a number of important Python modules commonly used by data scientists, and you will have the opportunity to bring along datasets from your own work (or from the web) to apply your new knowledge too.

The course is useful for professional computer programmers, as well as for economists, psychologists, librarians, accountants, or anyone who uses data in their day-to-day lives.

This course covers:

• The relevant parts of Python for manipulating and analysing data
• How to use ‘for’ loops and ‘while’ statements for manipulating lists and dictionaries
• Important modules for data manipulation (e.g. CSV) and for data analysis (Numpy)
• Solving basic data analysis problems with Python as quickly as possible
• Minimal theory and a lot of practical experience

The course starts with simple problems and works towards more complex problems. Students will complete an assessment after each worked example with a similiar problem. We will actively encourage the use of online resources such as Stack Overflow to help solve programming problems, ensuring that attendees learn how to find and use these excellent resources for further learning. The course length is either 5 or 3 days. The 3 day course is for those with some experience in using Python.

No prior programming experience is required. You will need to bring a laptop (Windows, Mac or Linux) to each session.

https://www.gold.ac.uk/short-courses/python-data-flexible/