How to Explore and Follow Open Source Data Science Masters

Updated

Open Source Data Science Masters (datascientistjourney.wordpress.com) is a WordPress blog documenting one path through a self-directed data science curriculum. To explore it, start from the site menu and the post list, then open the final project post to see the six-month arc in one place. To follow it, use the subscription option the site offers and the comment threads under individual posts. The site is a study journal rather than a course platform, so treat it as a record of what two learners covered and built, not as an enrollment portal.

What the site is

The site's own description is "6 months to becoming a data scientist," and its heading frames the same idea: "6 months to becoming a data scientist." The content is organized as a running log of that period, written by Fras and Sabine under the Data Science category.

That framing matters for how you use it. There is no indication of a structured syllabus page, graded assignments, or instructor support. What exists is a chronological record plus at least one substantial project write-up.

The pages worth opening first

Page or element What you get from it Why it matters
Site menu Navigation into the blog's sections and posts Fastest way to see what the site actually contains
Post list / archive The dated entries from the six-month period Lets you read the journey in order
"Final open source data science project" post (November 23, 2014) The capstone write-up and its framing questions The single densest page on the site
Comment threads under posts Reader discussion, including 6 comments on the final project post Shows where conversation happened

What the final project post contains

The final project post is the anchor of the site. It describes a dynamic website built with the JavaScript library D3.js, created at the end of the six months of study. The post states that the project set out to explain three things:

  • What it is like to study data science online, intensely, for six months
  • How a skill set could change and grow over that time
  • What topics the curriculum covered and how those topics connect to each other

Because the project is a D3.js visualization, the value is in the connections it draws between topics rather than in a flat list. If you are planning your own self-study path, this is the page to read for a sense of how one curriculum's pieces were mapped against each other.

The post is dated November 23, 2014 and carries 6 comments. That date is worth noting: the tooling and links referenced belong to that period.

How to read the site as a curriculum

The site does not present a numbered module list in the material available. The curriculum is instead reconstructed from the posts and from the final project's topic map. A practical reading order:

  1. Open the menu and scan the post list to get the date range.
  2. Read the earliest posts to see the starting point.
  3. Read forward chronologically to watch topics accumulate.
  4. Finish with the final project post, which compresses the whole period into one visualization and three framing questions.
  5. Read the comments on that post for reactions and follow-up discussion.

Expected result: you end up with a topic map and a sense of pacing, not a certificate or a graded transcript.

How to follow updates and join the discussion

Two mechanisms are visible on the site:

  • Subscription. The site's pricing signals include the terms "subscribe" and "subscription," which indicates a subscription option exists for following the blog. No price, plan tier, or payment platform is specified in the available material, so do not assume it is free or paid — check the site itself before subscribing.
  • Comments. Posts accept comments, and the final project post shows 6 of them. Commenting requires whatever identity WordPress asks for at the time; the material does not specify a login requirement, so verify on the page.

If your goal is to track new posts, the subscription option is the direct route. If your goal is to ask the authors something specific, the comment thread on the relevant post is the visible channel.

Common snags

  • Expecting a course. The site is a personal study log. There is no evidence of enrollment, deadlines, or support.
  • Expecting current tooling. The dated final project post is from 2014. D3.js is still in use, but library versions and best practices have moved on; read it for approach, not for copy-paste code.
  • Looking for a clean syllabus. The topic structure lives inside the final project's visualization and the post sequence, not in a standalone curriculum page in the available material.
  • Assuming subscription terms. The presence of "subscribe" language tells you an option exists, not what it costs or what it includes.