These materials are designed to ensure you are ready to succeed in the Metis data science bootcamp. Students should budget 60+ hours to complete the pre-work.
All exercises must be completed before the first day of class.
Step 0. Fork Repo
Step 1. Install software on your computer
Step 2. Choose and learn your editor(s)
Step 3. Learn command line
Step 4. Set up your repository on GitHub
Step 5. Python
Step 5a. Learn Python
Step 5b. Advanced Python
Step 6. Linear Algebra
Step 7. Statistics
Step 8. More Resources
Q: Can I run Windows for the bootcamp, instead of Unix or Linux?
A: The short answer is this: Don't run Windows.
The slightly longer answer is that it is possible to run Windows, but everything is harder. I've never had a student do the class with Windows. I had a student start the class with Windows, but by the second day that student went out and bought a new computer because it was too hard to keep up in Windows.
You don't necessarily need to buy a new computer. Here are some alternatives:
- If your computer is fairly powerful, you could run a Linux Virtual Machine inside your normal Windows install. This requires some configuration, but at least you end up with a working Linux instead of having to try to make Windows do things.
- You could install Linux on your computer instead of or alongside Windows. Then you can boot to Linux instead of booting to Windows. Again, there is a good deal of configuration to be done to get this to work well, in general. We've had a couple people do the class with Linux this way.
- You could
sshinto a remote Linux machine on EC2 and do all your work there. This requires some setup but perhaps less than the above two options. You'll mostly forgo a graphical interface, most likely, and you'll be paying for your computing by the hour. - You could try to use git-bash and/or other tools to try to make Windows achieve the functionality of Linux/MacOS. This becomes pretty frustrating pretty frequently and may limit the tools you can use.
Most people use Macs. They're too expensive, but they work really well and they have a Linux-similar operating system that lets you just get down to business.
If you want to spend time learning how to configure things, I recommend learning how to configure Linux over learning how to configure Windows.
Q: Can I discuss prework with other students in the course?
A: Absolutely.
Q: Can I ask for hints for python questions?
A: Yes