Databricks Notebooks Learning Plan

Day 1: Databricks Notebook Basics & Workspace Flow

Goal: Get comfortable moving around and creating notebooks.

Do

• Read: Manage notebooks
• Create a new notebook and attach compute
• Add cells in SQL + Python
• Run, interrupt, and rerun cells

Mini exercise

• Create notebooks/01-sandbox
• SQL: SELECT current_date();
• Python: create a small DataFrame and display it

Day 2: Querying & Visualizing Data in Databricks

Goal: Build confidence with end-to-end notebook usage.

Do

• Complete: Tutorial: Query and visualize data from a notebook
• Create one built-in visualization

Mini exercise

• Build two charts from the same data (bar + line)
• Write one sentence under each: "What this chart tells me."

Day 3: Databricks Data Import & Ingestion Workflow

Goal: Ingest external data and make it usable.

Do

• Complete: Tutorial: Import and visualize CSV data from a notebook
• Load CSV → rename fields → visualize → save as table

Mini exercise

• Add one extra cleaning step (drop nulls or cast a column type) before saving

Day 4: EDA Habits & Data Profiling in Notebooks

Goal: Learn repeatable exploration patterns.

Do

• Complete: Tutorial: EDA techniques using Databricks notebooks
• Practice quick profiling: null checks, distincts, summary stats, outlier glance

Mini exercise

• Add a "Findings" markdown section with 3 bullets:
• 1) interesting pattern
• 2) possible data issue
• 3) next question to investigate

Day 5: Multi-language Support & Markdown Storytelling

Goal: Make notebooks readable and collaborative.

Do

• In one notebook, use SQL + Python + markdown sections
• Use a narrative flow: Context → Query → Result → Why it matters

Mini exercise

• Create 05-mixed-language-demo with:
• 1 SQL cell, 1 Python cell, and 3 markdown headings

Day 6: Creating a Reusable Databricks Notebook Template

Goal: Stop starting from scratch.

Do

• Create your template with sections:
• Objective, Inputs/Parameters, Data Load, Transform, Visualize, Output Table, Notes/Decisions

Mini exercise

• Duplicate the template and run it on a second small dataset

Day 7: Databricks Capstone Project

Goal: Ship one useful notebook start-to-finish.

Do

• Pick a small real-world dataset
• Build a notebook that ingests, cleans, visualizes (2–3 insights), writes final output, and summarizes business impact

Mini exercise

• Share/export a snapshot and write a 5-sentence "what I learned" recap

Suggested daily rhythm

• 5 min: Review yesterday's notes
• 20–40 min: Hands-on tutorial/exercise
• 5–10 min: Write "what stuck / what broke / what to try tomorrow"