The final course in Python specialization from Mail.ru Group

Python is a simple and flexible language used in many areas of modern development. Web applications are created on it, games are written, data is analyzed and many other tasks are performed. Mail.ru Group launched a specialization on “Programming in Python” on the Coursera platform, consisting of four courses - from language immersion to Data Science. We want to learn and deepen their knowledge of the language could and beginners, and students, and experienced developers.

The first of the four parts, “ Immersion in Python ”, started back in 2017. In August, the listeners became available the second and third parts: " OOP and design patterns in Python " and " Creating Web services in Python ". And in December, launched the fourth, final part of the specialization " Python for data analysis. "

All courses were prepared with the support of MIPT, their authors are employees of MIPT and Mail.ru Group.

We have already talked about the first , second and third parts of the program. In this article, we talk about the fourth part, during which students will learn how to use their programming skills to build predictive models, visualize data, and work with neural networks.

For whom

The course is designed for middle-level students: it is suitable for high school students, students, developers, and all those who want to get skills in data analysis and building models in Python.

Successful completion of the course requires confident programming skills in Python. A plus will be a basic knowledge of mathematical analysis, linear algebra and statistical analysis. Those who did not complete the first three parts of the Python Programming specialization can also take a course, but knowledge of the language is necessary.

Duration and format

Course duration - 6 weeks. At the lectures and homework will have to spend about 7-9 hours a week, depending on the initial level.

The course was developed jointly with specialists from the Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology and the Online Education Development Fund .

The authors

Andrei Shestakov, Software Researcher, Mail.ru Group.

I work in the group of predictive analytics of the department of advertising technologies of Mail.ru Group, if simpler - MyTarget. In total I am engaged in data analysis since 2010. I also teach in educational projects of Mail.ru Group at the Higher School of Economics.

I was called to replace another teacher. It seemed to me that participating in the creation of a massive open online course would be an interesting and rewarding experience. So it turned out. Laying information in a compact form, monitor your speech, explain the material to a wide audience - all this helped to develop my teaching skills. I hope the audience will like it and they will learn something useful from the class.

Elena Shirokova, Data Scientist, MegaFon.

I am part of the big data team of MegaFon, before that I was engaged in the analysis of city data in the Habidatum startup. She was one of the instructors of the Advanced Urban Design data analysis course in conjunction with VSHU and Strelka.

I wanted to try a new format of teaching, different from lectures and seminars, and try to give the base, which can be useful after the course.

Zhebrak Alexander, CTO Insilico Medicine.

He worked for five years at Mail.ru Group in the department of internal development and automation. Two years ago, he joined the Insilico team, where we are engaged in using machine learning to search for new drugs and research on aging. He also taught a Python course at Moscow State Technical University. Bauman within Technopark. One of the authors of the first specialization course is “Immersion in Python”.

I decided to take part in the creation of a new course, because I liked the result of the work on the first course and the feedback from the students. Like many, I believe that every programmer should know the methods of data analysis and building machine learning models at some level, so the new course fits perfectly into our specialization. Writing an online course is a difficult task, so the experience of working on the first course certainly helped.

Pestrov Nikita, Data Science Lead, Habidatum.

Data Science Lead in Habidatum - a startup about big data and urban planning. Creates data-services and turns data into answers to questions of city planners. Founder of CocoaHeads Moscow - the first Russian community of iOS developers. Co-founder of the highest-grossing educational mobile language learning application in Russia easy ten. The path to Python began in Skoltech's magistracy, creating a system for analyzing the mood of Twitter users.

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You can register for the course at this link .

About other specialization courses

The first part of the Python Programming specialization. Immersion in Python is also available on the Coursera platform. It is designed for those developers who already have programming skills in other languages ​​and want to get to know and dive into Python.

The second part of the specialization “ OOP and Design Patterns in Python ” teaches students how to professionally design an application in an object-oriented paradigm.

The third part of the specialization is devoted to building web-applications in the Python language.