DataCamp.com Review

By Jim Cochrane, April 20, 2020 11:00 AM

DataCamp.com (Data Camp) is a wonderful training program for people who want to advance their learning in the data sciences. The training is interactive and video-based. The instructors explain the concepts in the videos and then turn it over to you to try out the concepts.

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If you are looking for a way to learn the concepts of data science, you need to consider signing up for Data Camp. You can try out the first chapter of most of the training modules for free. This gives you a good feel for the course content and should help you make the decision to pay for the premium service.

Disclosure: I am a full paid subscriber to the DataCamp.com service. I use it frequently. My review comes from real use. If you decide to upgrade your subscription to paid using the links on this page, I may receive compensation for that action. Signing up for free does not generate commissions for me!

Data Camp Subscription

Did you know you can sign up for Data Camp for free? They never pressure you to upgrade, either. This gives you a great way to test out the program without feeling like someone is hounding you to purchase something!

How Many Courses?

At the time of this writing, DataCamp.com offers 340 courses. The courses are divided into the following categories:

The heaviest concentration of courses is with the Python and R categories. However, the other categories are growing along with the demand. The company seems to keep up with the demain of the industry as you can see from the offering of Scala, Tableau and Power BI. If you are in the data science field, it's always a blast to see what they will add next. It's fun and exciting when new courses arrive (and they do often!)

The Good Stuff:

Perhaps the biggest benefit to being a paid member of DataCamp.com is the platform is self-contained; you won't need to go anywhere else when you are learning through the platform. You view the course modules via video, then the instructor turns control over to you to do the exercises.
Instruction at DataCamp.com is specific to machine learning activities. It's concentrated which means you will get plenty of instruction, course material, etc., that is specific to data science.
After you have completed a full career track, you will be given a certificate. DataCamp.com is becoming a premier resource for data science learning, so this is a big deal. When you post a certificate on your website or LinkedIn account, it will mean something.
Completing a career track sets the stage for using practice modules. This isn't true of every career track, but there are several that are included. When this happens, you can practice your skills with multiple choice quizzes. You can do this as many times as you want. The quizzes are randomized so you will never take the same quiz twice.

The Not-So-Good Stuff:

The platform allows you to submit feedback at certain stages of your participation. While this should be considered a positive attribute, to be honest, it isn't clear whether the company even reads it. I have never received a response stating that we have reviewed your feedback and these are the actions we took, etc.
I don't understand what benefits the Experience Points (XP) give you. When you use the system frequently, you will accumulate many points. I have over 200,000 points, but haven't any idea what that does for me.
There does not seem to be an easy way to contact the instructors should you have questions or get stuck.
In 2018, the company was involved in a scandel of alleged sexual abuse. After investigations, the CEO stepped down and a new CEO took over.

Bottom Line

Sign up for DataCamp.com. You have nothing to lose and just about everything to gain. You will get high-quality training and you can sign up initially for free. It's up to you if you want to continue with the premium training. You won't get pressure from the company to do so.

4.9/5 Stars

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