Class Structure

[MUSIC]

Welcome to the course, I'm happy to have you here.

In this course, we're going to continue to build upon the Python knowledge that

you've been gaining throughout this specialization.

First, we're going to teach you about Python dictionaries.

Dictionaries are a powerful data structure that allow you to map keys to values.

We'll show you how they work and how you can use them in your Python programs.

Then we're going to talk about how to operate in tabular data

in Python programs.

We'll show you how to read tabular data from the popular CSV file format,

then we'll show you how to store tabular data using dictionaries and

other data structures that we've already learned about.

Finally, we'll look at how you can operate on that tabular data to analyze it and

gain insights into the information contain they're in.

We'll even show you how you can write tabular data back to CSV

files in case that's useful to you in your programs.

Now, if you've been with us throughout the specialization you have all the background

that you need to succeed in this course.

If you're new though,

I do recommend you look over the material covered in our previous courses and

make sure they are comfortable with it so that you can succeed here.

Regardless, I'm happy to see you here.

And in this video,

I'm going to give you a brief overview of the structure of the course so

that you'll become comfortable and familiar with the way that we do things.

So, let's take a look.

The course consists of four weeks and

the structure of each week is basically the same.

We have three main components each week.

Here I'm showing you week two, so you can see these three main components.

First, we have the core materials.

So we have lectures and readings that will teach you the information that you need to

know to understand the key concepts from that week.

Then second, we have programming tips and practice.

And I strongly recommend that you go through these practice exercises because

they will help you to solidify the concepts in your mind.

And then finally, we have a graded assessment each week.

And for the first two weeks, that graded assessment will be a quiz.

And the last two weeks however, the graded assessment will be a programming project.

If I switch over to week four here, you can see

the basic information that your provided for one of the programming assessments.

You can see that there's a video explaining the project.

And then there's a reading that gives much more detail about the things that you

will need to do for the project.

And this will be true for both weeks three and four as I said.

In week three, we'll build up the basic infrastructure that you need to be able to

read and write CSV files.

And then in week four, we'll actually read real CSV files of baseball data and

learn how to analyze that baseball data.

Now, just as I don't know enough about baseball for this project, so I have been

watching the Houston Astros in the World Series just to hone my skills for

this project.

There are additional resources in the course beyond the materials that

are presented each week.

I want to particularly call your attention to the discussion forums.

You can get to those either by clicking on these Discussion Forum link here in

the left-hand navigation bar.

Or by clicking the button of the top of each week's material that will take you

directly to the forum for that week.

The discussion forum is a great opportunity for you to ask questions and

answer questions that others may have as well.

There is also a Resources link.

If you click on the Resources Link, you will see pages of additional material that

can be valuable to you throughout the course.

I strongly recommend that you take a look at these resources and

you read through them.

There's information about Python development environments and the coding

style and standards that are expected throughout the course, for instance.

And these materials are not explicitly covered

in the weekly materials of the course, but rather they're here for

you to refer to as you need them as you go through the course.

I'm happy to have you here with us in the course and I know that Joe is too.

Our course has a regular structure and

rhythm that I hope you will quickly become familiar and comfortable with.

Each week, we will first teach you the core materials for that week.

Then we will give you some programming tips and practice exercises that

will allow you to solidify the concepts of the week in your mind.

And then we will have a graded assessment on that material.

So I think you're ready to get started here, and so let's dive right in.

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