{"id":8510,"date":"2026-03-31T12:22:12","date_gmt":"2026-03-31T16:22:12","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/data-mania.com\/blog\/?p=8510"},"modified":"2026-03-31T12:22:12","modified_gmt":"2026-03-31T16:22:12","slug":"how-long-does-it-take-to-learn-how-to-code","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.data-mania.com\/blog\/how-long-does-it-take-to-learn-how-to-code\/","title":{"rendered":"How long does it take to learn how to code?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">How long does it take to learn how to code? Not long (at all). In this brief post, I\u2019m going to pretend as if I was learning to code from the very beginning. I&#8217;ll show you the easiest, fastest way to go about learning to code. Make sure to read to the end of this post. That\u2019s where I am going to share some great places where you can go to get real-life practice applying your new coding skills once you\u2019ve learned them.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><iframe title=\"YouTube video player\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/fHa9xb5-JLE\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>YouTube URL: <a href=\"https:\/\/youtu.be\/fHa9xb5-JLE\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">https:\/\/youtu.be\/fHa9xb5-JLE<\/a><\/p>\n<p><em>If you prefer to read instead of watch, then read on\u2026<\/em><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">For the best data leadership and business-building advice on the digital block, subscribe to my newsletter below. I\u2019ll make sure you get notified when a new blog installment gets released (each week). \ud83d\udc47<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><!-- ConvertKit: Unauthorized --><\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">As far as why I\u2019m qualified to give advice on learning to code, I learned to code back in 1987 (at the ripe old age of 8) and subsequently in my \u201ccoding career\u201d I\u2019ve taught over 1.3 Million professionals how to code in Python. Don\u2019t believe me, you can see the latest editions of my courses over on LinkedIn Learning<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> here.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">If you\u2019re new around here\u2026 Hi, I\u2019m Lillian Pierson and I support data professionals in becoming world-class data leaders and entrepreneurs.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">How long does it take to learn how to code? You get to decide&#8230;<\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft wp-image-11565 lazyload\" data-src=\"http:\/\/data-mania.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/How-long-does-it-take-to-learn-how-to-code-683x1024.png\" alt=\"how long does it take to learn how to code\" width=\"300\" height=\"450\" data-pin-title=\"How long does it take to learn how to code\" data-pin-description=\"Want to learn how to code but you\u2019re strapped for time (and money)? \ud83d\ude29 In this post, I\u2019ll teach you EXACTLY how I would learn to code if I was starting over. These options are fast, affordable, and will help you land your dream tech job. #DataScience | http:\/\/data-mania.com\/blog\/how-long-does-it-take-to-learn-how-to-code\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/www.data-mania.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/How-long-does-it-take-to-learn-how-to-code-683x1024.png 683w, https:\/\/www.data-mania.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/How-long-does-it-take-to-learn-how-to-code-200x300.png 200w, https:\/\/www.data-mania.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/How-long-does-it-take-to-learn-how-to-code-768x1152.png 768w, https:\/\/www.data-mania.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/How-long-does-it-take-to-learn-how-to-code-60x90.png 60w, https:\/\/www.data-mania.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/How-long-does-it-take-to-learn-how-to-code-533x800.png 533w, https:\/\/www.data-mania.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/How-long-does-it-take-to-learn-how-to-code-433x649.png 433w, https:\/\/www.data-mania.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/How-long-does-it-take-to-learn-how-to-code.png 1000w\" data-sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" src=\"data:image\/svg+xml;base64,PHN2ZyB3aWR0aD0iMSIgaGVpZ2h0PSIxIiB4bWxucz0iaHR0cDovL3d3dy53My5vcmcvMjAwMC9zdmciPjwvc3ZnPg==\" style=\"--smush-placeholder-width: 300px; --smush-placeholder-aspect-ratio: 300\/450;\" \/>Now, obviously since I specialize in teaching people to learn how to code in order to do data science, the method I am going to teach you here will be slanted towards learning to code so that you can do work as a data professional.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><a class=\"inline-twitter-link inline-tweet-click\" href=\"#\" onclick=\"inline_tweet_sharer_open_win('https:\\\/\\\/twitter.com\\\/intent\\\/tweet?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.data-mania.com%2Fblog%2Fwp-json%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fposts%2F%3Fper_page%3D100%26%23038%3Bpage%3D4%26%23038%3B_fields%3Did%252Ctitle%252Ccategories%252Ccontent&#038;text=RT+%40strategy_gal%3A+Don%3Ft+worry+if+you+already+know+you+want+to+become+a+software+developer%2C+this+5-step+method+I%3Fm+about+to+show+you+is+transferable+to+learning+any+other+programming+language+or+stack+of+languages+as+well.+');\" title=\"Tweet This!\">Don\u2019t worry if you already know you want to become a software developer, this 5-step method I\u2019m about to show you is transferable to learning any other programming language or stack of languages as well. <span class=\"dashicons dashicons-twitter dashicons-inline-tweet-sharer\"><\/span><\/a><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">If I could start over, in all honesty, I would learn to code the very same way I learned how to use Python for data science back in 2012. In this post, I am showing you the exact 5 step approach I used and would use again if I had to.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">You\u2019d be surprised at the amount of flexibility you have in determining how long it will take you to learn to code. If you choose a lofty goal, you can spend years learning to code and never feel like you\u2019ve mastered it. I don\u2019t recommend that approach. Instead, choose an attainable goal and set a deadline for when you will achieve it.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Of course, you want to make sure that you\u2019re not learning just for the sake of learning. You want to make sure that what you learn is actually in alignment with your aspirations, correct? So, you\u2019ll want to start with your end objective in mind and then reverse engineer how you can get there.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b><i>Let me illustrate with a fictional example&#8230;<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n<h2><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Step 1: Find something you want to do<\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Imagine that you\u2019re looking for a job and you know that you believe in the power of data to transform businesses and improve lives. So, because you believe that this would be a fun, fulfilling and rewarding role, you decide you\u2019ll look for a job in \u201cData Monetization\u201d on LinkedIn.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">At the top of the results, you see that Pinterest is hiring for \u201cHead of Analytics and Data Science, Monetization\u201d&#8230; so you tap into that job listing and notice that &#8211; surprisingly &#8211; the job does not have a minimum requirement for coding experience.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-8514 size-full lazyload\" data-src=\"http:\/\/data-mania.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/data-monetization-coding-skills.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"1280\" height=\"720\" data-pin-nopin=\"true\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/www.data-mania.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/data-monetization-coding-skills.png 1280w, https:\/\/www.data-mania.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/data-monetization-coding-skills-300x169.png 300w, https:\/\/www.data-mania.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/data-monetization-coding-skills-1024x576.png 1024w, https:\/\/www.data-mania.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/data-monetization-coding-skills-768x432.png 768w, https:\/\/www.data-mania.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/data-monetization-coding-skills-90x51.png 90w, https:\/\/www.data-mania.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/data-monetization-coding-skills-600x338.png 600w, https:\/\/www.data-mania.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/data-monetization-coding-skills-1154x649.png 1154w\" data-sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1280px) 100vw, 1280px\" src=\"data:image\/svg+xml;base64,PHN2ZyB3aWR0aD0iMSIgaGVpZ2h0PSIxIiB4bWxucz0iaHR0cDovL3d3dy53My5vcmcvMjAwMC9zdmciPjwvc3ZnPg==\" style=\"--smush-placeholder-width: 1280px; --smush-placeholder-aspect-ratio: 1280\/720;\" \/><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/jobs\/search\/?currentJobId=2516585365&amp;keywords=data%20monetization\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/jobs\/search\/?currentJobId=2516585365&amp;keywords=data%20 monetization<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">As you can see, the only mention of coding in the job description is that you have \u201cHands-on knowledge of SQL and Python or R\u201d.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Yes, you read that right. They are requesting that you know how to use 2 languages SQL and either Python or R.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Now, in this hypothetical situation, you don\u2019t know anything about how to code at all\u2026 so you\u2019re probably not going to get this exact job with Pinterest. But, if you learn to code now, you can probably get a similar role with another company later on &#8211; after you\u2019ve learned. So, let\u2019s go with it.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">I\u2019d love to try to help you out in figuring out your best learning goals for you. Tell me a little bit about your time constraints in the comments below, and I promise to suggest a reasonable time commitment for learning to code.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Step 2: Find your learning instrument<\/span><\/h2>\n<p><b>The next thing you need to do is to decide what you want to learn first. <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Don\u2019t try to learn more than 2 languages at a time, it will just slow down your learning momentum.<\/span><\/p>\n<h4><a class=\"inline-twitter-link inline-tweet-click\" href=\"#\" onclick=\"inline_tweet_sharer_open_win('https:\\\/\\\/twitter.com\\\/intent\\\/tweet?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.data-mania.com%2Fblog%2Fwp-json%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fposts%2F%3Fper_page%3D100%26%23038%3Bpage%3D4%26%23038%3B_fields%3Did%252Ctitle%252Ccategories%252Ccontent&#038;text=Don%E2%80%99t+try+to+learn+more+than+2+languages+at+a+time%2C+it+will+just+slow+down+your+learning+momentum.+');\" title=\"Tweet This!\">Don&#8217;t try to learn more than 2 languages at a time, it will just slow down your learning momentum. <span class=\"dashicons dashicons-twitter dashicons-inline-tweet-sharer\"><\/span><\/a><\/h4>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Since you don\u2019t know anything about either of these languages, go ahead and check to see if one language is a prerequisite for another.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">You Google \u201cis there a prerequisite for learning Python?\u201d Also, \u201cis there a prerequisite for learning SQL?\u201d You discover that the answer to both of these questions is \u201cno\u201d.<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><b>Next you need to find out which of these will be the easiest to learn&#8230;<\/b><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">So you Google\u201dwhat is easier python or sql?\u201d\u00a0 The resounding answer from the internet is that SQL is easier, so you decide to learn to do SQL first, and then Python.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Next, you need to figure out how long it will take you to get \u201chands-on\u201d learning experience with SQL. The easiest way to do that is just to <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/click.linksynergy.com\/deeplink?id=*JDLXjeE*wk&amp;mid=39197&amp;murl=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.udemy.com%2F\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">go over to Udemy<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> and find a well-rated course that tells you exactly how long it will take you to complete it. When I say a well-rated course on Udemy, I mean you want it to have at least 100 ratings of 4.4 stars or above.<\/span><\/p>\n<h4><a class=\"inline-twitter-link inline-tweet-click\" href=\"#\" onclick=\"inline_tweet_sharer_open_win('https:\\\/\\\/twitter.com\\\/intent\\\/tweet?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.data-mania.com%2Fblog%2Fwp-json%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fposts%2F%3Fper_page%3D100%26%23038%3Bpage%3D4%26%23038%3B_fields%3Did%252Ctitle%252Ccategories%252Ccontent&#038;text=When+I+say+a+well-rated+course+on+Udemy%2C+I+mean+you+want+it+to+have+at+least+100+ratings+of+4.4+stars+or+above.+hat+tip%3A+%40strategy_gal');\" title=\"Tweet This!\">When I say a well-rated course on Udemy, I mean you want it to have at least 100 ratings of 4.4 stars or above. <span class=\"dashicons dashicons-twitter dashicons-inline-tweet-sharer\"><\/span><\/a><\/h4>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">If you can find a course that\u2019s relevant to the job description or industry you\u2019re aiming for then that\u2019s even better. Let\u2019s look back at this Pinterest job posting real quick.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-8515 size-full lazyload\" data-src=\"http:\/\/data-mania.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/data-monetization-leader-job-requirements.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"1280\" height=\"720\" data-pin-nopin=\"true\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/www.data-mania.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/data-monetization-leader-job-requirements.png 1280w, https:\/\/www.data-mania.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/data-monetization-leader-job-requirements-300x169.png 300w, https:\/\/www.data-mania.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/data-monetization-leader-job-requirements-1024x576.png 1024w, https:\/\/www.data-mania.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/data-monetization-leader-job-requirements-768x432.png 768w, https:\/\/www.data-mania.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/data-monetization-leader-job-requirements-90x51.png 90w, https:\/\/www.data-mania.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/data-monetization-leader-job-requirements-600x338.png 600w, https:\/\/www.data-mania.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/data-monetization-leader-job-requirements-1154x649.png 1154w\" data-sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1280px) 100vw, 1280px\" src=\"data:image\/svg+xml;base64,PHN2ZyB3aWR0aD0iMSIgaGVpZ2h0PSIxIiB4bWxucz0iaHR0cDovL3d3dy53My5vcmcvMjAwMC9zdmciPjwvc3ZnPg==\" style=\"--smush-placeholder-width: 1280px; --smush-placeholder-aspect-ratio: 1280\/720;\" \/><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">From the listing, you can see that they are looking for someone to Liaison with the Head of Monetization for Engineering and Product, and you know they\u2019re a social media company, so\u2026 if you can find a SQL course related to SaaS products, that would be great.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">You go over to Udemy and search beginner courses on \u2018SQL \u201cProduct\u201d\u2019. Low and behold, at the top of the results you find a Beginners SQL course that will show you how to use SQL to analyze product data and inventory data. It&#8217;s well-rated and relevant. Bingo!<\/span><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/click.linksynergy.com\/deeplink?id=*JDLXjeE*wk&amp;mid=39197&amp;murl=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.udemy.com%2Fcourse%2Flearn-business-data-analysis-with-sql-and-tableau%2F\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-8513 size-full lazyload\" data-src=\"http:\/\/data-mania.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/data-analytics-sql-course.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"1280\" height=\"720\" data-pin-nopin=\"true\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/www.data-mania.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/data-analytics-sql-course.png 1280w, https:\/\/www.data-mania.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/data-analytics-sql-course-300x169.png 300w, https:\/\/www.data-mania.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/data-analytics-sql-course-1024x576.png 1024w, https:\/\/www.data-mania.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/data-analytics-sql-course-768x432.png 768w, https:\/\/www.data-mania.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/data-analytics-sql-course-90x51.png 90w, https:\/\/www.data-mania.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/data-analytics-sql-course-600x338.png 600w, https:\/\/www.data-mania.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/data-analytics-sql-course-1154x649.png 1154w\" data-sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1280px) 100vw, 1280px\" src=\"data:image\/svg+xml;base64,PHN2ZyB3aWR0aD0iMSIgaGVpZ2h0PSIxIiB4bWxucz0iaHR0cDovL3d3dy53My5vcmcvMjAwMC9zdmciPjwvc3ZnPg==\" style=\"--smush-placeholder-width: 1280px; --smush-placeholder-aspect-ratio: 1280\/720;\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<h3><a href=\"https:\/\/click.linksynergy.com\/deeplink?id=*JDLXjeE*wk&amp;mid=39197&amp;murl=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.udemy.com%2Fcourse%2Flearn-business-data-analysis-with-sql-and-tableau%2F\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Learn Business Data Analysis with SQL and Tableau<\/span><\/a><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It includes 4-hours of lecture material. So, you probably want to give yourself 8 to 12 hours to watch it and work the examples. As a rule of thumb: When using video courses to learn how to code &#8211; give yourself at least 2x &#8211; 3x the duration time of video lectures, to apply and practice what the course is showing you.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<h4><b>As a rule of thumb: When using video courses to learn how to code &#8211; give yourself at least 2x &#8211; 3x the duration time of video lectures, to apply and practice what the course is showing you.\u00a0<\/b><\/h4>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">We are going to create a milestone goal for you next. But while we are over in Udemy, let\u2019s find a relevant Python course you can learn from too. Since the job is to be the head of analytics and data science, you know you need to know how to use Python for something related to that. So you search Udemy beginners courses on \u201cdata analytics python&#8221;.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/click.linksynergy.com\/deeplink?id=*JDLXjeE*wk&amp;mid=39197&amp;murl=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.udemy.com%2Fcourse%2Fdata-science-and-machine-learning-with-python-hands-on%2F\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-8516 size-full lazyload\" data-src=\"http:\/\/data-mania.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/data-science-python-course.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"1280\" height=\"720\" data-pin-nopin=\"true\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/www.data-mania.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/data-science-python-course.png 1280w, https:\/\/www.data-mania.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/data-science-python-course-300x169.png 300w, https:\/\/www.data-mania.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/data-science-python-course-1024x576.png 1024w, https:\/\/www.data-mania.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/data-science-python-course-768x432.png 768w, https:\/\/www.data-mania.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/data-science-python-course-90x51.png 90w, https:\/\/www.data-mania.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/data-science-python-course-600x338.png 600w, https:\/\/www.data-mania.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/data-science-python-course-1154x649.png 1154w\" data-sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1280px) 100vw, 1280px\" src=\"data:image\/svg+xml;base64,PHN2ZyB3aWR0aD0iMSIgaGVpZ2h0PSIxIiB4bWxucz0iaHR0cDovL3d3dy53My5vcmcvMjAwMC9zdmciPjwvc3ZnPg==\" style=\"--smush-placeholder-width: 1280px; --smush-placeholder-aspect-ratio: 1280\/720;\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The top result comes in as 15.5-hour video course on \u201c<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/click.linksynergy.com\/deeplink?id=*JDLXjeE*wk&amp;mid=39197&amp;murl=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.udemy.com%2Fcourse%2Fdata-science-and-machine-learning-with-python-hands-on%2F\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Machine Learning, Data Science and Deep Learning with Python<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201d The ratings look good, but the only problem is that &#8211; When I first discovered this course, the price was set to $89.99. At $89.99, it\u2019s pricey for an online coding course. But when I went in to grab a closer screenshot a few hours later, you can see the price had already dropped to $14.99! Pro-tip: Don\u2019t pay more than $9.99 for Udemy courses. Most of the best Udemy courses go on sale for one week per month. And the price will be set to $9.99 then. If that\u2019s not the price when you first go to look, just pay attention to when Udemy has sales so you can snag the course at a small fraction of the price then.<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<h4><b>Pro-tip: Don\u2019t pay more than $9.99 for Udemy courses. Most of the best Udemy courses go on sale for one week per month and the price will be set to $9.99 then. If that\u2019s not the price when you first go to look, just pay attention to when Udemy has sales so you can snag the course at a small fraction of the price then.<\/b><\/h4>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This Python course lasts for 15.5 hours, so you probably want to give yourself 45 hours to take and complete the course.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Step 3: Commit to clear learning goals<\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Congratulations &#8211; You\u2019ve already done most of the heavy lifting for planning your initial syllabus for learning to code. Now you just need to set some goals and stick to them.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">If you have a full-time job and a personal life then, don\u2019t be too ambitious. Honestly, if you can fit in 5 or 10 hours per week to take coding courses and practice what you learn, that\u2019d be great.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">An awesome way to fit in the learning and get paid to learn to code is to see if you can get your employer to approve the course for on the job training. I did that when I learned Python back in 2013, and it was great. I got free training courses, paid to learn, and real-life business projects to apply the skills to as soon as I completed the courses.<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<h4><b>An awesome way to fit in the learning and get paid to learn to code is to see if you can get your employer to approve the course for on the job training. Give that a shot.<\/b><\/h4>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">But, let\u2019s say that learning to code on the job is not an option for you. A realistic schedule might look like this then:<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">12 hours &#8211; Learn SQL Basics<\/span><\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Deadline: 2 weeks from now<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">45 hours &#8211; Learn Python for Data Science Basics<\/span><\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Deadline:\u00a0 7 weeks from start date<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">What this really comes down to is that you can use video courses to teach yourself. This includes the basics of how to code in SQL in Python in about 9 weeks, after work and on the weekend.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Speaking of low-cost learning resources for learning to code in data science, I\u2019ve published many free coding tutorials on how to do that. I will leave a link to a few of the more popular ones below:\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">CUSTOMER PROFILING AND SEGMENTATION IN PYTHON | A CONCEPTUAL OVERVIEW AND DEMONSTRATION <\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/data-mania.com\/blog\/customer-profiling-and-segmentation-in-python\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">http:\/\/data-mania.com\/blog\/customer-profiling-and-segmentation-in-python\/<\/span><\/a><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">CONJOINT ANALYSIS IN R: A MARKETING DATA SCIENCE CODING DEMONSTRATION <\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/data-mania.com\/blog\/conjoint-analysis-in-r\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">http:\/\/data-mania.com\/blog\/conjoint-analysis-in-r\/<\/span><\/a><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">HOW TO BUILD A RECOMMENDATION ENGINE IN R | A MARKETING DATA SCIENCE DEMO <\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/data-mania.com\/blog\/how-to-build-a-recommendation-engine-in-r\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">http:\/\/data-mania.com\/blog\/how-to-build-a-recommendation-engine-in-r\/<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Also my Python for Data Science course are linked below and will work for beginners if you start with Part 1.<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/data-mania.com\/blog\/python-for-data-science-part-1\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Python for Data Science Essential Training, Part 1<\/span><\/a><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/data-mania.com\/blog\/data-science-for-dummies\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Python for Data Science Essential Training, Part 2<\/span><\/a><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/data-mania.com\/blog\/recommendation-engines-in-python\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Building A Recommendation System With Python<\/span><\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Step 4: Follow thru on your commitment<\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">If you\u2019re following along with the advice in this post then you\u2019ve either set really realistic goals for yourself, or you\u2019re actually going to get paid to learn to code for free.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Both of these arrangements are highly desirable. But you\u2019ll need to make sure you actually take the initiative to follow-thru on your commitment. Obviously, it will be easier to follow through if your job allows you to learn these skills as part of your job. But if that\u2019s not the case, then you may want to pick someone in your life to remain accountable to. Just pick a best friend, partner, or maybe your spouse and give them a copy of your learning plan. Then set a time once per week where you report to them on the progress you\u2019ve made towards completing that plan. Not only will that help you remain accountable and committed, it will also help you learn to communicate technical things to a (presumably) non-technical person.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.data-mania.com\/data-superhero-quiz\/\"><img decoding=\"async\" data-pin-nopin=\"nopin\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-10190 lazyload\" data-src=\"http:\/\/data-mania.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/free-data-career-quiz-and-guidance.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"810\" height=\"275\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/www.data-mania.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/free-data-career-quiz-and-guidance.png 810w, https:\/\/www.data-mania.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/free-data-career-quiz-and-guidance-300x102.png 300w, https:\/\/www.data-mania.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/free-data-career-quiz-and-guidance-768x261.png 768w, https:\/\/www.data-mania.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/free-data-career-quiz-and-guidance-90x31.png 90w, https:\/\/www.data-mania.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/free-data-career-quiz-and-guidance-600x204.png 600w\" data-sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 810px) 100vw, 810px\" src=\"data:image\/svg+xml;base64,PHN2ZyB3aWR0aD0iMSIgaGVpZ2h0PSIxIiB4bWxucz0iaHR0cDovL3d3dy53My5vcmcvMjAwMC9zdmciPjwvc3ZnPg==\" style=\"--smush-placeholder-width: 810px; --smush-placeholder-aspect-ratio: 810\/275;\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<h2><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Step 5: Apply what you learned<\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The fifth and final step in your learning to code journey should always to be to practice using what you learn. It will always be better if you can think up real-life applications for the skills you\u2019ve learned. And honestly, if you are already a knowledge professional, there are usually an abundance of opportunities. These opportunities include applying Python to automate some of your daily work; thus, freeing even more time for you to learn more.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">But if you really can\u2019t think of any place where you can use your newfound coding skills in your real-life, then that will probably be remedied once you\u2019ve done a few practice projects. The good news is that there are tons of fun and interesting projects online you can use to practice your new coding skills. Below, I will place links to some practice projects. Some of which can be made relevant to the example we\u2019ve been working through in this post.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.hotosm.org\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Humanitarian Open Street Map<\/span><\/a><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.datakind.org\/projects\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">DataKind<\/span><\/a><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.techforcampaigns.org\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Tech For Campaigns<\/span><\/a><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Peruse <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.reddit.com\/r\/datascience\/comments\/9evf1o\/where_to_find_real_problems_to_practice_data\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">this Reddit thread<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> on where to find \u2018real problems\u2019 to practice coding in data science<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><strong>About your \u201clearning to code\u201d goal\u2026<\/strong><\/span><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This is not a one and done thing. If you get a few courses and practice problems done, technically you will have learned to code. Of course, there is a lot more to learn, especially if you want to be a professional coder. But, learning to code is a rise, wash, repeat cycle. The good news is that you\u2019ve just gotten a clear repeatable process you can use to learn any coding skill you so choose.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Continuing education is a lifelong process. You\u2019ll never learn it all and you\u2019ll never be done. That\u2019s why you don\u2019t need to fret about being a newbie\u2026 Just start today and keep going &#8211; you\u2019ll be at the expert level sooner than you know!<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">If you like this small training that answered the questions: how long does it take to learn to code? And you think you might have some interest in learning to code so you can get a job in the data sector, then you\u2019d probably really like the free guide I created, called \u201c<\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/data-mania.com\/blog\/guide-to-breaking-into-data\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">A Badass\u2019s Guide To Breaking Into Data<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201d. It\u2019s a 52-page e-book. It also details some of the best data courses I recommend for learning coding skills that data professionals need.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/data-mania.com\/blog\/guide-to-breaking-into-data\/\"><img decoding=\"async\" data-pin-nopin=\"nopin\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-10191 lazyload\" data-src=\"http:\/\/data-mania.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/free-guide-for-getting-a-job-in-the-data-field.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"810\" height=\"275\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/www.data-mania.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/free-guide-for-getting-a-job-in-the-data-field.png 810w, https:\/\/www.data-mania.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/free-guide-for-getting-a-job-in-the-data-field-300x102.png 300w, https:\/\/www.data-mania.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/free-guide-for-getting-a-job-in-the-data-field-768x261.png 768w, https:\/\/www.data-mania.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/free-guide-for-getting-a-job-in-the-data-field-90x31.png 90w, https:\/\/www.data-mania.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/free-guide-for-getting-a-job-in-the-data-field-600x204.png 600w\" data-sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 810px) 100vw, 810px\" src=\"data:image\/svg+xml;base64,PHN2ZyB3aWR0aD0iMSIgaGVpZ2h0PSIxIiB4bWxucz0iaHR0cDovL3d3dy53My5vcmcvMjAwMC9zdmciPjwvc3ZnPg==\" style=\"--smush-placeholder-width: 810px; --smush-placeholder-aspect-ratio: 810\/275;\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Also, I have a <\/span><b>free<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> Facebook Group called <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/groups\/data.leaders.and.entrepreneurs\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Becoming World-Class Data Leaders and Entrepreneurs<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. I\u2019d love to get to know you inside there, if you\u2019d like to <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/groups\/data.leaders.and.entrepreneurs\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">apply to join here<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Hey! If you liked this post, I\u2019d really appreciate it if you\u2019d share the love with your peers! Share it on your favorite social network by clicking on one of the share buttons below!<\/span><\/p>\n<p><em>NOTE: This blog post contains affiliate links that allow you to find the items mentioned in this video and support the channel at no cost to you. While this channel may earn minimal sums when the viewer uses the links, the viewer is in NO WAY obligated to use these links. Thank you for your support!<\/em><\/p>\n<hr\/>\n<p><em>Building a B2B startup growth engine? See how <a href=\"https:\/\/www.data-mania.com\/fractional-cmo-services\/\"><strong>Lillian Pierson works as a fractional CMO<\/strong><\/a> for tech startups navigating GTM, AI, and scale.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>How long does it take to learn how to code? Not long (at all). In this brief post, I\u2019m going to pretend as if I was learning to code from the very beginning. I&#8217;ll show you the easiest, fastest way to go about learning to code. Make sure to read to the end of this [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":8501,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"gallery","meta":{"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[582],"tags":[585],"class_list":["post-8510","post","type-post","status-publish","format-gallery","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-startups","tag-how-long-does-it-take-to-learn-how-to-code","post_format-post-format-gallery"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.data-mania.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8510","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.data-mania.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.data-mania.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.data-mania.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.data-mania.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8510"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.data-mania.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8510\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":20281,"href":"https:\/\/www.data-mania.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8510\/revisions\/20281"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.data-mania.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/8501"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.data-mania.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8510"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.data-mania.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8510"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.data-mania.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8510"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}