Stage 1 · Lesson 8 of 8
A local practice setup
Set up a workspace on your own computer that you can break freely. Install Python with a tool, plus Git, VS Code and . Docker runs software inside a container, a sealed box with everything it needs.
Run PostgreSQL in a container to act as a pretend source system, like an app's database. Also install . It is a small that runs inside your program, reads CSV and Parquet files directly and behaves much like a .
Keep one Git repository for everything you build in this roadmap, with a README that says how to run it. Pick one realistic dataset to reuse in every stage. Good options are the New York taxi trip records, a public e-commerce dataset or your country's open data portal.
Common trapstarting in the cloud on day one and paying for resources while you are still learning basic SQL.
A question to check yourself, an AI practice session and 2 cheat sheet entries come with the full roadmap. Unlock
Resources for this stage
Start with· follow one of these
- CourseFreeData Engineering Zoomcamp
DataTalks.Club · Beginner
Free, cohort-based or self-paced course: Module 1 covers Docker, PostgreSQL and loading real taxi data
- CourseFreeCS50's Introduction to Programming with Python
Harvard University · Beginner
If your Python is shaky, work through the lectures on functions, exceptions, file I/O and libraries first