Find your starting point.

Check your prerequisites and use the four-week bridge to close the gaps that would make the core harder.

A practical self-assessment

Check only skills you can demonstrate. This diagnostic is advisory and stays in your browser.

Bridge week 1: Python & command line

Functions, dictionaries, lists, exceptions, file paths, JSON, virtual environments, and deterministic tests. Build a command-line program that reads synthetic documents and reports valid/invalid records.

Practical checkpointWrite a function that rejects empty document IDs, preserves source order, and returns errors without exposing secret values.

Bridge week 2: SQL & relational thinking

Tables, keys, joins, grouping, windows, NULL, and transaction basics. Model tickets separately from ticket events and explain the grain of each table.

Practical checkpointCreate a tiny SQLite dataset and show why joining tickets to events changes row counts.

Bridge week 3: Git, HTTP & APIs

Commits, branches, diffs, merge conflicts, request/response contracts, status codes, authentication, and authorization. Practice reviewing changes before running unfamiliar code.

Practical checkpointDocument an API call with valid input, forbidden input, timeout behavior, and a safe retry policy.

Bridge week 4: Evaluation & cloud basics

Sampling, precision/recall, train/test separation, baselines, storage, compute, identity, and networking. Understand which costs are usage-based and which persist while a resource exists.

Practical checkpointCompare a rule-based classifier against a labeled fixture and identify the false positives and false negatives.

Exit task

Build a small program that loads synthetic ticket records, validates identifiers, stores them in SQLite, and answers one business query. Include a duplicate, an invalid row, a test, and a short README. Explain your decisions to another learner.

If this is difficult, extend the bridge until the underlying skills are comfortable. Experienced learners may proceed directly when they can demonstrate equivalent evidence.

Begin Module 01