Becoming a Data Platform Engineer
A zero-to-job curriculum. Start with basic SQL and Python; finish able to design, build, and operate a real data platform. Eight courses ladder from CS foundations and the modern data stack through a runnable capstone build to the job search. Hands-on throughout, with checkpoints, exercises, a six-month schedule, and a companion repo.
Start at Course 1 · Start Here & Roadmap — it lays out the full path, a six-month schedule, and a prerequisite self-check. Looking for the senior architecture deep dive instead? See the companion Data Platform Systems Design reference.
Courses
8 coursesThe learning path end to end — what a data platform engineer does, the eight-course curriculum, a six-month schedule, a prerequisite self-check, and how each track ladders up. Read this first.
2 · Orientation & SetupWhat the job actually is, the mental model that makes everything click, and a hands-on environment bootstrap — command line, git, Docker, a Python toolchain, and a local Postgres + DuckDB — culminating in your first end-to-end pipeline.
3 · FoundationsThe CS and data-systems core, taught for the job — how computers represent data, how databases and files actually work, algorithms, operating systems, networking, and distributed systems. Degree-like depth, grounded in concrete examples.
4 · The DE CraftThe daily craft, hands-on — data modeling (relational, dimensional, SCD, medallion), ingestion and CDC, transformation with dbt, the lakehouse, streaming, orchestration with Dagster, and data quality & testing.
5 · Tooling & the Modern StackThe professional workflow — collaborating with git, containerizing and wiring your whole stack with Docker Compose, the cloud primitives every platform runs on, CI/CD, infrastructure as code, and observability.
6 · Capstone Labs — Build Mini-GridDPThe build-along payoff — assemble everything into one running data platform on your laptop across 10 labs: a data generator, ingestion, dbt modeling, the telemetry firehose, orchestration, tests, a semantic layer, a dashboard, CI/CD, and a documented portfolio repo.
7 · Career & Getting the JobTurn the skills and the capstone into an offer — the job market and roles, building a portfolio, a resume that survives the screen, structured interview prep (SQL, coding, system design, behavioral), and the offer plus your first 90 days.
8 · Glossary & Cheat SheetsThe curriculum's reference layer — a plain-language glossary of every term (cross-linked to where it's taught) plus quick cheat sheets for SQL, the command line, dbt & Dagster, the stack map, and the decisions you'll make most. Keep it open as you learn.