Langchain course

I recently took a course on activeloop focusing on Vector databases and the LangChain library.

Activeloop has their own vector database product called Deep Lake. This tool was introduced in the course to store and query embeddings from the various samples. Most of the course focused on LangChain. This was the main focus for me and the reason I decided to take this course.

The curriculum walked through a few main concepts from the LangChain. Chains, Templates, Retrievers, Text Splitters and Tools. The examples were clear and there was plenty of working code to go along with what was being described.

The goal for me was to get a good high level understanding of the LangChain library, how and when to best use it. In that regard the course was time well spent. The content associated with the vector database product Deep Lake was not as useful. I could not get any of the samples working. This is a cloud based hosted product. After following the instructions for set up and configuration the application just keep waiting and I was never able to progress. Even with this hiccup I was able to complete the course and I still feel I got value out of it.

LangChain is a broad and varied library with many components and concepts to understand. If you are looking to get started and dive in I would definitely recommend this course.

I know there is some debate in the tech industry about the value of professional certifications. I put these type of courses into two categories.

The first are certifications that are larger in scope and focus on widely used products. Think AWS or Azure. These certifications give the student a more thorough and rigorous curriculum and the certification conveys some degree of expertise on the subject.

The second group are similar to the course mentioned here. More of an introductory level. I feel these are valuable as a structured way to learn a subject. The certification is more a way to keep you on task and prove that you finished the work. I would not say this course or any like it will make an expert out of you. But its a great way to get started.

As always use your judgment and have an end goal in mind that lines up with reality.