DEV Community: Sharonah8

Getting started with Power BI

Sharonah8 — Thu, 26 May 2022 17:10:55 +0000

Power BI is a Business Intelligence tool used to analyze and visualize data. It is provided by Microsoft and helps users make data-driven decisions and insights. The good thing with Power BI is that it allows you to get data from different sources eg Excel Workbook, Text/CSV, PDF, XML, JSON files, among others.

There are 3 basic parts of Power BI:

Power BI desktop
Power BI service.
Power BI app (used in smart phones).

Power BI is generally used in businesses and organizations to come up with dashboards and reports. These are then used to study the behavior of different components in the business and to come up with data-driven decisions. Below is an image showing a simple dashboard with two charts: a line chart and a waterfall chart.

Some of the benefits of Power BI are:

It allows you to build a personalized dashboard and report. You can tailor your dashboard and reports to meet your specific needs and wants.
Can update in real-time. Power BI lets you update dashboards and stream datasets in real-time.
It is constantly updated and thus new features which make visualization and analysis even simpler, are constantly added.
Easy sharing and distribution of data. One can upload their reports and dashboards to Power BI service and share this with others. The data will reflect on everyone's side in real-time when any changes occur.

Another powerful feature of Power BI is that it allows you to perform a deep dive of the underlying data and tell us what's causing an increase or decrease as shown in the image below.

If you are searching for a tool that is user-friendly, with a smooth learning curve, but can still do good analyses, visualizations and reports, then Power BI is the best place to look. It is also a very friendly tool for beginners and they will master it in no time. Get started today.

Python for everyone: Mastering Python The Right Way

Sharonah8 — Wed, 02 Mar 2022 19:58:40 +0000

Python is one of the most popular programming languages and has been widely adopted even by beginners in programming. However, mastering this language the right way is not an easy feat. I will share some tips to guide you in the right path to mastering Python the right way.
In your Python journey, you’ll see that picking up the basics correctly is the best part. Mastering the basics opens up a whole new world of endless possibilities and endless things that you can build from creating games, developing websites, machine learning, etc.
To master Python, you will first need to download and install Python on your computer. Then, install a code editor of your choice. You can choose Jupyter, Pygame, VScode, etc depending on what works for you.
Next, ensure you learn and master things like data structures and algorithms, variables, data types, all of which are important and form the backbone of mastering the language. Ensure you put this knowledge into practice by trying to write simple programs that test your understanding of each of these topics. Don’t worry if you get an error; that is a chance for you to learn more. There is also StackOverflow which is usually overflowing with answers and you can get the help you need.
Master the basic syntax of the language then work on projects from simple ones and progressing on to more complex projects. You will definitely encounter errors or bugs in your code and I promise you that some of them will give you a headache. However, do not fear at all. You can always find help in StackOverflow or even on Google. These errors you encounter everyday help you learn more and become a badass Python developer as you move forward. Work on as many projects as you can and build up your portfolio. Post your projects on Github and even invite others to take a look and give you feedback.
Documenting what you learn helps you understand it better. So, with every new topic that you learn, it is advisable that you write a blog about it and post it on sites such as Dev.to, Meduim, etc. Invite your friends or peers in Python to read and criticize your work. Learn from your mistakes and always strive to do better.
Finally, join a community. You can search online for a community of Python developers such as LuxTech academy, where you can work together, share ideas, collaborate on projects, and even ask for help whenever you feel stuck. This community will also teach you new things and you can learn from people who have been in this field longer. Seek for a mentor who can guide you on this journey and always be willing to learn and commit your time to it. Eventually, it will all pay off and you will become the badass Python programmer you always dreamed of.

Python Data Structures and Algorithms

Sharonah8 — Mon, 21 Feb 2022 10:08:35 +0000

A data structure is a naming convention for storing and organizing data. An algorithm, on the other hand, is a set of instructions for solving a certain issue. We can develop efficient and optimized computer programs by learning data structures and algorithms. Some of these data structures include lists, dictionaries, tuples, sets, queues, stacks, linked lists, among others. Lists, tuples, sets, and dictionaries are the four types of built-in data structures.
Lists.
A list is defined by square brackets and contains comma-separated data. The list is ordered and mutable. It can include a variety of data kinds. An example is:
grades = ['A','B','C','D',’E’]
The allocated index can be used to access list items. The starting index of a list in Python is 0 and the ending index is N-1 (if there are N entries).

Tuples.
A tuple is another example of a container. It's an immutable ordered sequence of items data type. Because you can't add or delete members from tuples, or arrange them in a certain order, they're immutable. Tuples are created in Python by inserting a sequence of values separated by a 'comma', with or without the use of parenthesis for data grouping.

Sets.
A set is an unordered and mutable collection of distinct items. It can help us swiftly delete duplicates from a list. Sets are mostly used for membership checks and removing duplicate items.

Dictionaries.
A dictionary is a data structure that is both mutable and unordered. It allows for the storage of two objects (i.e. keys and values). Python Dictionary indexing is done with the aid of keys. These can be of any hashable type, i.e. an object that does not change over time, such as strings, integers, tuples, and so on. Dictionaries are created using curly braces {}. E.g:
Dict = {'Name': 'Students', 1: [1, 2, 3, 4]}

Linked Lists.
A linked list is a linear data structure in which the entries are not kept in memory in the same order. A linked list's items are connected via pointers. A pointer to the first node of a linked list is used to represent it. The head is the initial node in the chain. The value of the head is NULL if the linked list is empty. A linked list is made up of two parts: data, and the pointer to the next node.

Introduction to Git and Github.

Sharonah8 — Tue, 25 Jan 2022 06:54:54 +0000

Git is a version control system that is extensively used by programmers all over the world. It assists individual developers in monitoring their changes as they work on various features within the same project, as well as teams in organizing their code. Github works hand in hand with Git which is an online application that lets users host, examine, and collaborate as teams.
In Github, we make use of commands to carry out certain processes. Some examples of command include git –version, git push, git add etc. We shall look at these and more commands and the different roles that they play.
In order to create a new project on Github, you will need to create a new repository. Then clone it to your machine and commit and save changes to the file you are working on. You will then push these changes.
There are numerous git commands. Some of the most common ones include:

Git config – sets your username and email address to be used within your commits.
git config –global user.name “JohnDoe”

git config –global user.email “johndoe@example.com”

Git init – Initializes a new repository.
git init [repository name]
Git add – Adds a file to the staging area.
git add newproject
Git add * - Adds one or more files to the staging area
Git clone – Used to obtain a repository from a URL
git clone [url]
Git commit – Saves the changes in your local repository
git commit -m “[Commit message]” Your commit message must be descriptive. It must describe the actual changes that you’ve made.
Git commit -a – Commits the files that you added using the git add command and any other files that have been added since then.
git commit -a
Git push – Pushes the changes in the committed file from the local repository to a remote repository so that other people are able to access them.
git push [variable name] master
Git pull – Fetches the last changes saved on the remote repository and pushes them into the local repository.
git pull [Repository Link]
Git merge – Merges your branch with the parent branch.
git merge [branch name]
Git status – Gives you the current status of your working directory.
Git log – to view the changes made
Git diff – gives you the difference between what you have in the current directory and what has been committed

These are just a few of the git commands. There are many more commands that one needs to learn. Worry not, as these can be found online. And the more you work with Git, the more you’ll be able to learn and master these commands. Remember, practice makes perfect!

Basically, the work flow in Github is as follows:

Create a repository.
Clone it to your local machine.
Commit and save the changes after adding a new file.
Push these changes.
Use git to make some changes to your file.
Pull these changes on to your local machine.

Demystifying Python basics.

Sharonah8 — Mon, 10 Jan 2022 16:49:28 +0000

Python is a very powerful programming language. It is general-purpose and can be used in data science, mathematics, web development, and other programming areas. It is also multi-platform which means it can run on any operating system: Windows, Linux, MacOS, among others. It is also open-source and free. The most amazing part is that despite it being multi-functional, it is easy to learn and therefore beginner-friendly. Let’s have a look at some Python basics for those who are looking to learn this language.
The first thing we will look at is the Python syntax. Syntax in general refers to the structure of a language or the basic rules it follows that makes that language unique. In Python, comments are marked by using a # sign before the actual comment. This applies to both single-line and multi-line comments. For example, if you wanted to write a comment that says a given piece of code multiplies even numbers, you would write it as #multiplies even numbers. Everything written after the pound sign (#) will be ignored by the interpreter.
One unique thing about Python that probably makes it easy for beginners is that you do not to terminate statements with any symbol. In languages like C, you have to terminate each statement using the semicolon (;) symbol. In Python however, you can just write statements without having to terminate.
Another very important unique thing is indentation. It is used to differentiate blocks of code. For example:
for i in range(100):
# indentation indicates code block
total += i
As you have noticed, there is a colon (:)right before the indented code. This applies in all blocks of code in Python. Before you indent a certain line or lines of code, ensure there is a colon at the end of the previous code. Indentation also brings uniformity and readability to your code. The number of spaces you use as a programmer depends entirely on you, but just make sure you are consistent in the number of spaces you decide.
Python variables are locations that store data values in memory. Python has no specific command for naming a variable. It is created as soon as you assign a value to it. For example:
x = 8
y = "Sharonah"
print(x)
print(y)
As shown above, we use the assignment operator (=) to assign a value to the variable. The variables declared do not necessarily have to be of any type. You are even able to change the type even after assigning values to the variable. You also have the option of assigning more than one value to a number of variables, as shown below:
a, b, c = "Hello", 1, 99

print (a)
print (b)
print (c)

We also have constants in Python. These are variables also but their values can’t be changed. Variables are given values in the format shown below:
Pi = 3.14

These are the basics of Python and are very important things that one should familiarize themselves in as they plan to start the Python journey.