Baltimore Data Week Recap: Polymath Python was all about demystifying programming

Baltimore Data Week’s Polymath Python workshop on Tuesday was an introduction for all those that ever wondered, What is Python and how do I learn it?

The programming workshop was lead virtually by Aaron Brooks, founder and CEO of MASTERMND, a company dedicated to training technical engineers for free. This is done through Twitch, YouTube and Google Classroom. Brooks streams a more in-depth form of the workshop four nights a week on Twitch and was very comfortable leading the class.

“All programming is, is giving computer instructions to perform an automated task,” said Brooks to the workshop, where about 60% of participants had never used Python before.

He then went on to explain that what makes Python so useful is its ease of use and libraries, which help share and recycle code.

A true #BaltimoreDataWeek first! A Virtual Session with background music…"People learn better and I teach better with music!" Thanks for an awesome session! @mastermndio https://t.co/ocs5AlkAF2

— Seema Iyer (@seemadiyer) July 21, 2020

There were 50 attendees of the more than 100 people that signed up for the workshop. It covered the basics of Python and gave a brief demo of its application.

The one-hour workshop was all about demystifying programming. The demo included making a quick web app with Python and the ABCs song of any coding class, making a website that says Hello World.

For anyone that was in the workshop or who wants just wants to start their journey in learning Python, Brooks has a Youtube playlist dedicated to taking you from “zero to hero” in Python.

You can watch an archived version of this work shop or any workshop at Baltimore Data Week at Baltimore Neighborhood Indicators Alliance Youtube page.

Donte Kirby is a 2020-2022 corps member for Report for America, an initiative of The Groundtruth Project that pairs young journalists with local newsrooms. This position is supported by the Robert W. Deutsch Foundation.