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From the course by Johns Hopkins University

The Data Scientist’s Toolbox

15988 ratings

Johns Hopkins University

The Data Scientist’s Toolbox

15988 ratings

Course 1 of 10 in the Specialization Data Science

In this course you will get an introduction to the main tools and ideas in the data scientist's toolbox. The course gives an overview of the data, questions, and tools that data analysts and data scientists work with. There are two components to this course. The first is a conceptual introduction to the ideas behind turning data into actionable knowledge. The second is a practical introduction to the tools that will be used in the program like version control, markdown, git, GitHub, R, and RStudio.

From the lesson

Week 2: Installing the Toolbox

This is the most lecture-intensive week of the course. The primary goal is to get you set up with R, Rstudio, Github, and the other tools we will use throughout the Data Science Specialization and your ongoing work as a data scientist.

Tips from Coursera Users - Optional Video 3:53

Command Line Interface16:03

Introduction to Git4:49

Introduction to Github3:53

Creating a Github Repository5:51

Basic Git Commands5:52

Basic Markdown2:22

Installing R Packages5:37

Installing Rtools2:29

Meet the Instructors

Jeff Leek, PhD
Associate Professor, Biostatistics
Bloomberg School of Public Health
Roger D. Peng, PhD
Associate Professor, Biostatistics
Bloomberg School of Public Health
Brian Caffo, PhD
Professor, Biostatistics
Bloomberg School of Public Health

[MUSIC]

I am the game analytics lead at Miniclip.

Prior to that, I was the interim lead producer at

Miniclip on the mobile division, not the whole company.

>> I've been a stay at home mom for

23 years of my biological triplets as well as a series of foster children.

But I'm now looking, as my children are getting older,

to perhaps getting back into the workforce.

>> I'm a policy and public affairs professional, and

over 10 years I've worked in policy lobbying in Westminster in London.

But at the same time, I'm also a dance artist and a budding choreographer.

Cuz it's very easy to sign up for a course and to think, oh, this is a great thing,

it's really interesting and I would like to learn a little bit about it.

But in fact it does require a bit of preparation, listening to the lecture.

So in other words, it needs some time to be put aside.

There is never enough time.

>> If it was an easy path or an easier path, I think it wouldn't be so helpful.

>> It's a little overwhelming for people of my generation, I think,

because I didn't know how to set up my microphone and I didn't necessarily know

if I would be able to access all the material and understand the videos.

[MUSIC]

The fact that the lectures are in video form is a very handy thing for

someone like me who hasn't taken notes in a really long time, because I can

repeatedly pause it and rewind it and go back over it again if I need to.

>> I take the lectures almost religiously.

I print the handouts.

I take handwritten notes.

And then I create my notes in a tidy way that I keep on a different notebook.

>> Well, there's another side of Coursera that I really appreciate, and

that is the peer review.

At first I was slightly skeptical, and

also a bit daunted because it's an additional coursework and

actually it proved really helpful for my own coursework

because it helped me understand what are the sort of average standards?

What is the better way to approach some of the tasks?

And after awhile,

you just start to realize that there is something as a common ground.

>> Assistants, they are really knowledgeable.

They helped a lot of people who had some difficulties because they didn't really

have the coding background.

To me at least I tend to start having places where I go.

Rseek in the case of R helped a lot, but if it was for

some other programming language, I would probably go to Stack Overflow.

[MUSIC]

The things that I'm doing right now, in my job,

with what I learned is really nice and was a great experience.

>> I also learned so much that I felt clever again all of a sudden.

[LAUGH] It was nice,

it activated parts of my brain that I hadn't used in a long time.

>> Just in my household there is three of us, and

all three of us have done at least one Coursera course.

So it's really changed what we do in our spare time.

[MUSIC]

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