Zero to Hero - Databricks

[BS_THE_ANALYST]

Hi all!

In a nutshell, I want to go from zero to hero with Databricks. I'd like to pursue the Databricks Data Engineering pathway, I think that makes sense as I have a background with Alteryx.

I'd really like to get hands on whilst learning. Are the learning pathways typically hands on? Are there ways to learn the materials and get hands on without large costs being incurred?

Any advice/wisdom would go a long way. I look forward to engaging with the community. 

All the best,
BS

[Advika_]

Hello, @BS_THE_ANALYST!

Databricks offers several courses for Data Engineering, including Instructor-Led Training (ILT) and Self-Paced options. To kick off your learning journey, you can start with some free self-paced courses. Please note that you'll need to pay to get access to the hands-on labs.

If you opt for a paid course, you'll get access to labs for 7 days. Additionally, we offer a Databricks Academy Labs subscription plan ($200), which includes various self-paced courses in different languages along with labs. You'll have access to this plan for a full year.

You can explore various categories, such as Data Engineering, Machine Learning, and Data Analyst, in our suggested Learning path.

[BS_THE_ANALYST]

@Advika_ thanks for your advice. 

Are there any reviews/feedback on the labs? I like the concept. Am I right in thinking that it's $200 for access to all labs? If there's multiple employees wanting to learn Databricks at a company, would each person need to spend that amount or does that cover labs for everyone?

My background is with Alteryx, I love to get hands on with solving. Alteryx offer Weekly Challenges as a means of skilling up. Is there some equivalent concept with Databricks? 

What's best practice for monitoring resource usage in terms of cost?

All the best,
BS

[MariuszK]

Hello,

You can use Databricks on Azure for free for 30 days. There is a possibility to switch to a pay-as-you-go option. In the billing section of your Azure subscription, you can monitor your spending and create alerts. If you use a single-node cluster, you can keep your costs lower.

Here you can find a tutorial:

https://medium.com/@mariusz_kujawski/getting-started-with-databricks-a-beginners-guide-8b8db7f6f457

[BS_THE_ANALYST]

@MariuszK thanks for the link to your medium article. There's some great stuff in there!

Good point about the 30 day Azure free trial for Databricks.