A Guide to Contributing to Open Source Python Packages
I recently made my first contribution to an established Python package (link). When I shared this milestone with friends I realized that many of them are interested in doing something similar but don’t know how. I decided to write down the steps I took in case it helps others. Step 1: Identify Packages You Want […]
How Much Python Do Data Scientists Need To Know?
A few months ago I wrote a blog post about Polars, a new dataframe library in Python that is both incredibly fast and easy to use. While the post was well-received, I did get some push-back on it. The criticism normally looked like this: Even if everything you say about Polars is true, you still […]
Building a Census Explorer in Python: Part 1
One of my career goals is to get as fluent with Python as I am with R. Since I don’t use Python at work, my efforts so far have focused on online courses and weekly exercise services. Courses came first (you need to learn the fundamentals somehow, after all). Then came weekly exercises (that’s where […]
Reflections on Learning Pandas
One day last year I woke up with the thought: I want to know Python as well as I know R. I like R, and happily use it every day at work. But I also have the impression that an entire ecosystem in the data world has sprung up around Python. It appears that this […]
Getting Started with Python (Again): OOP and VS Code
Last month I set a goal of dusting off my Python. While I use R exclusively at work, some recent developments in Python caught my eye, and so I thought it would be good to regain my proficiency with the language. Here are some resources that have helped me on this journey – hopefully they […]