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⌚ TIMESTAMPS

00:42 – Excel

03:12 – Google Sheets

05:21 – Python

07:00 – R

08:45 – SQL

10:57 – CSV Fiddle

11:33 – Tableau

13:42 – Power BI

16:03 – Claude

17:57 – ChatGPT

18:39 – GitHub

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Mentioned in this episode:

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FindADataJob.com

If you're trying to break into data

analytics, you've probably wondered

2

how much do all these data tools cost?

3

Because when you start adding up

Excel, Tableau, Python, AI tools,

4

it starts to sound really expensive.

5

But here's the big secret that

they don't want you to know.

6

You can get all of these

tools for absolutely free.

7

$0 and I'm going to tell you how

today, so we are covering the 10 most

8

used data tools, and I'll show you

my exact setup for each and show you

9

how you can replicate it on your own.

10

We'll cover four categories, spreadsheets,

scripting, business intelligence, and ai.

11

And I actually do pay for two of these

tools, so make sure you stick around to

12

the end to figure out what tools they

are and why they're worth paying for.

13

But let's get started with the

most in demand data tool, Excel.

14

And everybody knows Excel.

15

What most people don't know is that

you can use it for completely free.

16

In fact, Microsoft doesn't want you

to know that you can use it for free.

17

It's so unbelievably

hidden on their website.

18

They don't ever talk about it at all.

19

But don't worry, I have your back.

20

I'll have an exact link that you can use

to get access to this free version of

21

Excel, along with the other nine data

tools that we'll be covering today.

22

It's in the description down below.

23

So check it out.

24

Welcome to Excel for free on the web.

25

This is like the only place I've really

been able to find where it can link

26

to, where you can get it for free

and you can just sign in with your

27

Microsoft account or create your own.

28

And then once you do,

it'll look like this.

29

And sure enough, you can

create a a blank workbook.

30

You can access all of your other

files that you've done previously.

31

So you can see that I've used this.

32

In the past, I'll go ahead and

press create blank workbook just to

33

show you, but just like that you've

got Excel running in your browser.

34

That is one of the biggest downsides to

the free version is it's only in your

35

browser, but usually today that's okay.

36

Like usually are only working

when there's internet.

37

Um, there are some downfalls, like

file sizes in your browser can

38

cause things to, to bog down and

be really slow or even not work.

39

Um, but other than that, you get formulas,

you get charts, you get pivot tables.

40

Um, you can even, you know, share

this with different people by copying

41

the link or copy link to the sheet.

42

Um, you can manage the access to this.

43

You get five gigabytes of

storage basically, of OneDrive

44

to store all your files.

45

Now of course, you are missing other

things other than just being able to

46

use it on your laptop or your desktop.

47

Um, and there's a bunch of different

differences between the two.

48

To be honest, I couldn't find any

real documented, like this is the

49

free version versus the paid version.

50

This is what you get.

51

Um, so leave a comment down below if

you want me to do a full in depth.

52

Free Microsoft Excel versus

paid Microsoft Excel.

53

But like, the biggest thing

is you're not gonna be getting

54

all of the functions up here.

55

Like, uh, you don't have

power query and power pivot.

56

Um, you're not gonna have like

VBA macros for automation.

57

Uh, the solver and analysis

tool packs are unavailable.

58

And of course, once again, you're

not gonna have offline access.

59

So there's gonna be some things

that you can't do with the

60

free version of Excel, but.

61

When you're just trying to learn on

your own, you're building your skills,

62

you're practicing formulas, then like

literally everything you need is in here.

63

The pivot tables, formulas, vlookup,

all the good stuff you need is going

64

to be available in the free version.

65

And even if it's not, like this

is a really good way to get

66

started without having to pay.

67

And then once you need to learn

the stuff that's not in the free

68

version, maybe you start paying

$7 a month for the paid version.

69

So who knew Excel is free.

70

Our next tool is the other big spreadsheet

software, which is Google Sheets.

71

And this one's really simple.

72

Google Sheets is a hundred percent free.

73

Seriously, all you need to

do is go to sheets.google.com

74

and sign in and boom,

you're basically done.

75

It's all available for you.

76

You basically get a full

fledged spreadsheet for $0.

77

It has real time collaboration.

78

It has 15 gigs of data and storage.

79

It has so many different functions.

80

Graphs that you can

make up here at the top.

81

Different formulas, and it even

has something called Google App

82

Scripts if you wanna write custom

code inside of your spreadsheet.

83

Now there is a paid version,

kind of, it's Google Workspace.

84

And Google Workspace basically includes

the premium version of all the Google

85

products, and it's about $7 a month or $15

a month depending on what plan you're on.

86

But mostly that's for businesses.

87

It adds things like custom email

domains to your Gmail and more

88

storage and more admin controls.

89

For the spreadsheet functionality, it's.

90

Pretty much nearly identical.

91

So for an aspiring data analyst,

Google Sheets is one of the best free

92

tools out there, especially if you're

collaborating with other people or

93

you wanna do like more automations.

94

Uh, it's a lot easier than Excel, in my

opinion, but I will give you one caveat.

95

Although Google Sheets is very similar to

Excel, there are some slight differences.

96

Once again, I have to make a whole

separate episode about what the

97

differences between Excel and

Google Sheet are, but just know that

98

there is quite a few differences.

99

Google Sheets is pretty much like 25

times more in demand than Google Sheets

100

is in terms of like corporate industries.

101

And Excel absolutely dominates Google

Sheets when it comes to actually

102

being written in job descriptions.

103

So I highly recommend focusing

on Excel instead of Google

104

Sheets because that's what's.

105

Going to be A, in the job listings, and B,

what's going to be used at the companies.

106

And hey, by the way, if you want

me to send you cool data tool

107

comparisons like this, make sure

you subscribe to my newsletter.

108

I include graphs like this all the

time that are designed to help you

109

actually know what you need to be

focusing on on your data journey.

110

So make sure you sign up

in the link down below.

111

Also 100% free.

112

And that's the end of category

one, the spreadsheets.

113

Moving onto category two scripting,

and honestly, this is where a lot of

114

people get intimidated because it is

programming, but I promise you this stuff

115

isn't as hard as it may seem, and you

can set all of this up with exactly $0.

116

All right, let's start with Python,

which is probably the coolest, most sexy

117

programming language and data right now.

118

And you might think, oh, that has

to be really expensive, right?

119

Uh, nope.

120

The answer is free $0, and

there's lots of places to get it.

121

Oftentimes, people will

just go to python.org

122

and download it for free there.

123

But I don't really recommend that because

I think there's an easier way to do it.

124

And this is the method that I

actually teach my bootcamp students.

125

And it's to download it via

the Anaconda distribution.

126

Of course, we'll have a link to this

in the show notes down below where you

127

can get access to all of the different

places to download these softwares.

128

But I really like the Anacon distribution

because obviously it's free, but it

129

not only gives you Python, but it

gives you some awesome IDs, uh, like

130

Spider or like Jupyter, uh, I think VS.

131

Code is also included in there.

132

Uh, and it also pre-install 250.

133

Python packages that are all database

like, uh, pandas, mpa, matplotlib,

134

iLearn, these are the libraries that

you're going to use in the data world

135

and those all com pre-installed.

136

So I really like that.

137

So this is what I recommend is just

doing the Anaconda distribution.

138

And there is obviously like paid

versions of Anaconda and paid versions

139

of other sort of Python like tools.

140

But with those, the majority

of the time it's for companies.

141

Companies that need things like

license compliance, security scanning,

142

central package management, and.

143

Some other like, you know, corporate

things, like for me and you, when

144

we're just tinkling around on our

computer, this is more than good.

145

You definitely should not be paying

for any sort of python at all.

146

I guess there might be a little

bit of an exception with some of

147

these new AI tools coming out.

148

There is some like ai, python, IDs.

149

But you're not really paying

for Python at that point.

150

You're paying for the IDE

that you're coding in.

151

So there you have it python's free.

152

Next is r and r is really

great for statistics.

153

Uh, it's used a lot in academia and

like in governments and in pharma.

154

Uh, I don't use R too much anymore.

155

I do have a download on my computer and

we do teach it inside of my bootcamp

156

'cause I think it is worth learning, but.

157

R is free.

158

It's a hundred percent free.

159

It is open source, and I don't even

really think there's a paid version of R.

160

Basically you just go to this janky

website for the R project and you go

161

to download and you do this like crazy

looking download based off of where you're

162

at and what type of computer you have.

163

It is a little bit tricky downloading it.

164

Uh, and this website looks like it's

165

you it's a hundred percent free.

166

You won't have to pay for it.

167

Now, something you may not know is what

these scripting languages, Python and r.

168

You need to have some sort of IDE,

which stands for Integrated Development

169

Environment to actually kind of use

them at least, unless you're really

170

good at using like your command prompt

or your terminal in your computer,

171

which I'm assuming most of you aren't.

172

I'm definitely still am

not comfortable with that.

173

So you need to find some

sort of an IDE to use Python.

174

That's one of the reasons I recommended.

175

Doing Anaconda for RI highly

recommend using R Studio.

176

It's from a company called Deposit and

I just think it's the best IDE for R,

177

and you can download it here and that

way you can actually like integrate

178

your R with some sort of an IDE.

179

That makes it really easy to code in.

180

Now Pza is a company that has

paid products, but a lot of

181

it is free and open source.

182

Really as an individual.

183

You wouldn't buy anything from Pza.

184

It's just more from a corporate

standpoint that's gonna get you like a

185

bunch of packages and a bunch of like

cloud space and like all these sort of

186

support and all these different things.

187

It's nothing that you really

need to use as an individual.

188

Like literally everything that I've

ever done with R I've never paid for,

189

and I've done it strictly with the R

download and our studio from Posit.

190

So I think you guys are in good

shape and once again, R is free.

191

The third scripting language we're

gonna be talking about actually

192

really isn't a scripting language.

193

It's more of a database language, but

it's sql, and that stands for structured

194

query language, and that's the language

that you use to talk to databases.

195

And so if you need to practice

with databases, you need to

196

talk to an actual database.

197

How do you download it?

198

Does it cost millions of dollars?

199

Well, no.

200

The truth is most sequel is free, and

there's lots of different sequel flavors.

201

Lots of different SQL softwares.

202

I'm not gonna cover all of them today,

but I will show you my personal favorite

203

that I have downloaded on my machine.

204

So I really like my sql.

205

Is there a reason why?

206

I don't know.

207

I like it.

208

It's fine, but there's a

community edition that's free.

209

You can literally go to this link.

210

You can download the MySQL installer

for windows or whatever computer

211

you have, and then make sure you

also install the MySQL Workbench.

212

This is like the IDE that's gonna let you

easily use MySQL on your computer, and

213

then literally with those two downloads,

you can write queries, design databases,

214

see your data, like do anything you

would do in any sort of SQL program.

215

For absolutely free.

216

It can handle millions of rows.

217

It's real, it's production grade.

218

There's no really limitations on it other

than like there is a paid version that's

219

sold by Oracle and that can like, that

can be like thousands of dollars, right?

220

And that's gonna get you more enterprise.

221

Solutions like monitoring and backups

and security and all that boring stuff

222

that we don't care about as individuals.

223

But if you're just learning

sql, this is an awesome option.

224

That's more than enough.

225

You don't even need anything else.

226

But if you're interested in

other SQL flavors, Postgres

227

has a very similar download.

228

Postgres sql, very similar to

MySQL and as well as SQL Lights

229

has a free download as well.

230

You can check out all three of those,

and even, and I've been gatekeeping

231

this for a while, so if you're

listening, listen really closely.

232

Downloading and installing and using SQL

via these free tools isn't always easy.

233

And so in my bootcamp program,

we have two modules on sql.

234

The second one, we actually go through

the steps of, you know, downloading

235

my SQL into their local machines and

setting it up and actually querying

236

the databases from there and creating

a project off those databases.

237

But for the first module, the first

project that I have my students do, uh,

238

in sql, I don't want them to have to go

through the headache of downloading sql.

239

I just want them to be able to focus.

240

On actual SQL Command.

241

SQL queries, right?

242

And SQL results.

243

And so to do that, we don't do any

installation and we use this free

244

tool that I've been gate keeping.

245

It's called CSV fiddle.io.

246

And what it allows you to do is actually

just upload a CSV file and then write

247

SQL commands against that CSV file.

248

So it is a lot easier to set up and

actually practice your SQL than having

249

to install, you know, the SQL installer

and the workbench and everything else.

250

So if that's of interest to

you, check it out@csvfiddle.io.

251

And of course it'll be linked

in the show notes down below.

252

And that concludes our second

category of scripting languages.

253

And we're moving on to the third, which

is, I've called business intelligence.

254

Really it's just data

visualization and dashboarding.

255

And we're gonna cover

Tableau and Power bi.

256

Let's start with Tableau.

257

Tableau is one of the most popular

data visualization tools in industry.

258

And it's historically pretty expensive.

259

In fact, when I worked at ExxonMobil,

I was not allowed to have Tableau.

260

I didn't have a Tableau license because

they were so expensive and there was

261

none of them free at the company.

262

I wasn't cool enough to have a Tableau

license, so it is pretty expensive

263

if you're gonna try to pay on your

own or even four, your company to

264

pay for it, at least Historically.

265

That was obviously like five plus years

ago, so maybe it's changed since then.

266

And so a lot of people are like, oh, I

wanna use Tableau, but it costs so much.

267

Well, there's a free Tableau

version that you can use.

268

It costs $0.

269

And it's basically called Tableau Public,

so you can find it@public.tableau.com,

270

and you'll have the option to

actually do two different ways

271

to use this Tableau public.

272

The first one is you can actually

create an account and do web

273

authoring and use Tableau online.

274

And then the second one is the Tableau

desktop free edition, where you

275

actually download Tableau onto your

computer and use it on your computer.

276

And this gives you a

little bit more of the.

277

Uh, authoring experience you'd have if

you had the full version of Tableau,

278

because I will say there are some pretty

heavy limitations with Tableau public.

279

And the first thing is

everything you create is going

280

to be visible for the public.

281

So if you have embarrassing data sets,

private data sets, proprietary data

282

sets, you probably don't wanna be

using Tableau public for that because

283

it's gonna be shown everywhere.

284

So just know that off the top of your

head, like everything that you put

285

in Tableau can be shown to the world.

286

There's also a bunch of other limitations

on what type of graphs you can make,

287

what type of files you can connect to.

288

I think it's only like Excel

CSV, Google Sheets, like you

289

can't actually connect to sql.

290

Um, there might be like some limit

on how big those data sets are.

291

And there's not really like any sort of

automation or sharing capabilities other

292

than sharing to everyone on the web.

293

It also doesn't include

anything like Tableau Prep.

294

That was Tableau's

product for data cleaning.

295

You kinda have to clean your

data beforehand and then

296

put it inside a tableau.

297

But honestly, for any aspiring data

analyst, everyone in my bootcamp,

298

Tableau Public is more than enough.

299

Like you can learn the core of Tableau.

300

Of data visualization, of dashboarding

on the free version, and you can

301

even publish 'em on Tableau public,

and then you can use that in your

302

portfolio when you're applying for jobs.

303

So really, for the most part, when you're

just getting started, Tableau costs $0.

304

It's absolutely free.

305

Alright, next is the other

data visualization tool that's

306

really popular right now and

that is Power BI from Microsoft.

307

And Power BI has a free plan,

but it's from Microsoft, so they

308

try to make it as confusing as

possibly that they possibly can.

309

Like it is so confusing.

310

Uh, if you go to pricing right

here, you're not gonna be able to

311

see like, oh, start free, right?

312

But it's like, oh, it's just a free trial.

313

Anyways, it's so confusing.

314

It's really hard to know how to use.

315

Uh, and also you can't

even use it on a Mac.

316

That sucks.

317

That's like half the

world uses a Mac, right?

318

So what are you gonna do if you're,

you wanna use power beyond your Mac,

319

and that's because Microsoft and Apple

are rivals and everything, right?

320

The other caveat to actually getting

a Power BI account is you need to

321

have some sort of a business email, at

least when I downloaded it last, which

322

was probably like three years ago.

323

So if you have like a Gmail or

an Outlook account, it's probably

324

gonna be hard to actually download

Power bi, which is one of the

325

reasons I teach my students Tableau.

326

It's just so much easier

to access than Power bi.

327

It's like, no, you can do it on

Windows or Mac and you don't have to

328

have any sort of special email to do.

329

So.

330

That being said, all these

hoops you have to jump through.

331

Once you find the right link,

which once again, we'll have the

332

link in the show notes down below.

333

You can download it and press

download for free, and you can

334

literally do everything in Power bi.

335

You can connect to a bunch

of different data sources.

336

You can use their data models, you can

create the dashboards, the reports.

337

It's really pretty much

like the paid version.

338

But that being said, you can't really

share those reports with anyone.

339

Like they, it's basically the

opposite of Tableau Public, where

340

it's like Tableau Public, everything

you do is shown to the world.

341

Power BI is like, you can't

show anyone about this.

342

If you wanna show anyone other than

yourself, you gotta pay us money.

343

That being said, a lot of companies

who have like the Microsoft 365

344

plan, they actually have Power

BI included with their, you know,

345

corporate services agreement.

346

So a lot of companies have Power BI

for absolutely free at the company,

347

or they're already paying for it.

348

That was the case at Exxon, which

is why they wouldn't let me have

349

Tableau is you already have Power bi,

you don't need to have a Second BI

350

tool, and they were kind of right.

351

And there's some pros and cons

to each one of these tools.

352

That being said, even if you're just

creating these dashboards, most of

353

the time it's gonna be for yourself.

354

Right, so you can create these dashboards

for yourself inside of your local

355

machine and just maybe do a screenshot

of them for your, uh, portfolio.

356

You don't have to be showing the

world your Power BI dashboards.

357

So really for you as an aspiring data

analyst who's just trying to practice

358

and create a portfolio, power BI is free.

359

And that's it for our business

intelligence and data visualization tools.

360

Let's go ahead and move

on to the AI tools.

361

The first one is Claude.

362

You've never heard of Claude.

363

It's very similar to chat GPT in

terms of like a chat interface.

364

However, I think it writes

a little bit better.

365

I think it analyzes data a little better.

366

I think it does a lot of

things a little bit better.

367

Not everything, but a lot of like the

data tasks or knowledge worker tasks.

368

I think it does better, and this is

one of the ones I actually pay for.

369

So the free version.

370

You're able to have like the

chat, like, um, you know, chat

371

GPT on your phone or whatever.

372

You can still generate code

and visualize data and write

373

everything and access the web.

374

Um, they're just gonna limit

you on how often you can use

375

it, and it's pretty limited.

376

Claude's pretty tight with

how much they let you use it.

377

Then there's a $17 plan that

will get you what's called Code

378

Claude Code and Claude Cowork.

379

These are two features I really like.

380

Um, cowork allows you to.

381

Give Claude access to your computer

and allow it to do things locally on

382

your computer, which is really nice for

analyzing data, creating PowerPoints,

383

those type of different things.

384

And Claude code is really fancy

way to do algorithmic coding.

385

Um, it's basically using automation

agents to actually code different things.

386

Um, for the Skippy for building websites,

whatever you would normally code, you

387

could definitely use cloud code to do

it and it would do a really good job.

388

And it also gives you a

little bit better researcher.

389

Um, like to actually search and

then there's some different plugins

390

like Claude for Excel and Claude for

PowerPoint, those types of things.

391

So paying really makes sense.

392

One of the reasons I pay and then

actually there's a max plan that

393

costs a hundred dollars per month.

394

That basically gives you more

access to do all these different

395

things and more advanced features.

396

I actually pay a hundred bucks a

month for Claude right now, and I

397

think it's a hundred percent worth it.

398

So Claude's one of these tools that

I think you might need to pay for.

399

Um, you could probably get a lot of the

way with just the free version, but like

400

you can use it for so many different

things and it's only $17 a month, like I

401

definitely think it's worth paying for.

402

So clot is $0, but I think if

you want the best use out of

403

it, you should probably pay.

404

That brings us to our next tool,

which I'm sure all of you guys have

405

heard of, and it's chat, GPT and chat.

406

GPT is still really useful

for doing data analysis.

407

I pay for the paid version of chat

GPT as well, but in the free version

408

you're gonna be able to get a lot

of the stuff done that you need to.

409

If you've never heard of chat

GPT before, it's basically like

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what you used to use Google for.

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You can use chat GPT for and a lot more,

and I'm pretty sure everyone listening

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has heard of chat GPT at this point.

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In terms of pricing, they do have

a free plan where basically you're

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not gonna get as good of access or

as much access to their good models.

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They're gonna limit you on

everything, and I think they're even

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gonna give you ads at this point.

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I don't know if they've

actually integrated that or not.

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I actually pay for plus at this point,

but I think I'm going to be canceling

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it probably 'cause I mostly use Claude

and I pay a lot for Claude right now.

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And the last tool I wanna tell

you about that is totally free as

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a data analyst is called GitHub.

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And no, it's not really an AI tool,

but that's the only place that really

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felt like it belonged in a category.

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And the reason why is, I think this

will become more important with ai.

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GitHub has really become like.

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The middleman for a lot of AI

things, and I think it's only

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gonna get more and more use.

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And so I think it's important that

I start talking about it a little

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bit more than I have historically.

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Historically, I haven't talked about

it that much because it is a little

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bit complicated to get started.

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Uh, and to be honest, I just didn't

really use it at my jobs all that

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much that often, like it doesn't.

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It only integrates really

with code and with writing,

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kind of, but it's mostly code.

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So if I was using Power BI, like I was

at, at uh Exxon a lot, it doesn't really

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make sense to be using GitHub as much.

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But if you're coding Python,

you're coding R, you're coding SQL,

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or any other coding, it makes a

lot of sense to be using GitHub.

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And I think in the future this

is going to be more important

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and it costs $0 for, for you.

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What GitHub does, if you're not

familiar with it, is think of

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it as like Google Docs for code.

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It allows you to.

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Uh, put your code online, have

it be stored somewhere and like

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share it with someone else.

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So for example, I could share any of

my code I've ever written with you

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guys through a GitHub link and you

could click on it and download all

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of the different, uh, coding files.

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And I think it's gonna be

really important in the future.

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So I just wanted to mention it as a

really good resource and it costs you $0.

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Of course, there are paid versions of it,

and that's the most important thing I need

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to tell you is that once you land a job.

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You're not gonna be paying for any tools.

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The company's gonna be

paying for all of your tools.

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So really in the beginning, you can get

away as an aspiring data analyst using

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all these tools for free, or paying for a

little bit of them, maybe here and there.

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But then once you're on the job,

you're not gonna have to pay

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for all any of these different

tools that you're gonna be using.

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The company's going to be paying for them.

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So I know I kind of blew through

those and did those really quickly.

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But that link, the description down

below will have instructions on how

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to get all these different tools for

free and what you're actually missing

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by not doing the paid versions.

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So make sure you click on that link down

below, and I'll see you in the next one.