Beginner Free online
DAX Guide
Every DAX function with examples and how it behaves; the reference to keep open while working.
Power BI & DAX
Kosovo open data › Books
Books for data, Python, AI and DevOps
A short list of the best books for our courses: free ones first (from their authors, publishers or sponsors), then the classics worth buying, linked to the publisher. Each shows its level, topics and how to get it. Start with the books marked Beginner and Free online: no sign-up needed.
Link, don't re-upload
Email-gated books are licensed to the person who signs up, and most free web-books stay with their authors. We link to the official page only.
Students under 16
Vendor forms often ask for a work email and company. Start with books marked "Free online".
Rechecked each term
Sponsored offers get pulled or move to a new edition. Tell your lecturer if a link stops working.
45 books: 29 free, 16 paid
Beginner Free online
Deep Learning with Python, 3rd Edition
The 2025 edition is free to read online in full, no signup. Code-first introduction to neural networks with Keras 3, including generative models.
Use in class: First deep learning module, DS 15+
Machine LearningProgrammingAI & LLMs
Beginner Free online
Docker: Get Started
Official step-by-step guide: images, containers, Compose. Matches the container stack the lab runs on.
Use in class: Running the lab stack locally
DevOps
Beginner Free online
Forecasting: Principles and Practice, the Pythonic Way
The Python edition of the most-used forecasting textbook, free online with a print edition since 2026. Uses the Nixtla libraries (StatsForecast and friends).
Use in class: P2 demand forecast, core text
Time SeriesData Science
Beginner Free online
Introduction to SQL
Open-source ebook on GitHub: queries, joins, subqueries, unions. Read the repository's LICENSE before mirroring anything.
Use in class: Week 1 SQL, no account needed
SQL
Beginner Free online
Power BI Data Analyst (PL-300) learning path
Microsoft's own free course: get data, model it, write DAX, build reports. Prepares for the PL-300 exam.
Use in class: The Power BI module, step by step
Power BI & DAX
Beginner Free online
Pro Git
The official Git book, free online and as ebook in many languages. CC BY-NC-SA licensed.
Use in class: Git basics for every course
DevOpsProgramming
Beginner Free online
Prompt Engineering Guide
Web guide to prompting techniques, RAG and agents, with examples. Good first read before students use AI tools in labs.
Use in class: Lab rules for AI-assisted coding
AI & LLMs
Beginner Free online
Python Data Science Handbook
NumPy, pandas, Matplotlib and scikit-learn as runnable notebooks. Text CC BY-NC-ND, code MIT.
Use in class: P2 demand forecast, data cleaning labs
Data ScienceProgrammingMachine Learning
Beginner Free online
Python for Data Analysis, 3rd Edition
The pandas book by the author of pandas, free to read online (open access edition).
Use in class: pandas lessons, cleaning the platform's CSV files
ProgrammingData Science
Beginner Free online
Python Programming Exercises, Gently Explained
42 small exercises with step-by-step solutions; free PDF from the author (also readable online).
Use in class: Weekly Python practice for beginners
Programming
Beginner Free online
The Linux Command Line
Free PDF of the full book: shell, files, permissions, scripting.
Use in class: SSH work on the lab server
DevOpsProgramming
Beginner Free online
The Twelve-Factor App
Twelve short pages on building apps that deploy cleanly: config in the environment, logs as streams, stateless processes.
Use in class: The .env and container setup in the lab server
Architecture & System DesignDevOps
Beginner Free online
Think Python, 3rd Edition
Full text online as notebooks. Text CC BY-NC-SA 4.0, code MIT. Includes using LLMs to write and debug code.
Use in class: Python foundations for the 15+ group, Programim
Programming
Beginner Account
Hugging Face LLM Course
Free course in book form: transformers, tokenizers, fine-tuning and sharing models. A free account adds quizzes and a certificate.
Use in class: AI module, P3 AI build sprint
AI & LLMsProgramming
Beginner Account
Introducing DAX (video course)
Free video course from the two best-known DAX teachers: measures, filter context, CALCULATE.
Use in class: Before the first DAX homework
Power BI & DAX
Beginner Email form
Practical Guide to Apache Airflow 3
Local setup, a first pipeline, then the new Airflow 3 features. Short enough for one reading assignment.
Use in class: Airflow lab sheets, scheduling the API pulls
Data Engineering
Intermediate Free online
An Introduction to Statistical Learning (Python)
Free PDF from the authors. Regression, classification, trees, clustering, deep learning, each chapter with a Python lab.
Use in class: P2 demand forecast modelling
Data ScienceMachine Learning
Intermediate Free online
Data Engineering Zoomcamp
A free 9-week course: Docker, Terraform, orchestration, data warehouse, dbt, Spark, Kafka.
Use in class: A full self-study path after the course
Data EngineeringDevOps
Intermediate Free online
Dive into Deep Learning
Interactive book where every section is runnable code (PyTorch and others), used in hundreds of university courses.
Use in class: Deeper DL track for strong students
Machine LearningAI & LLMsProgramming
Intermediate Free online
Made With ML
Free MLOps course: design, develop, deploy and monitor ML systems end to end, with code on GitHub.
Use in class: Bridge between DE and DS courses
Machine LearningDevOps
Intermediate Free online
Mathematics for Machine Learning
Free PDF. Linear algebra, calculus and probability, then how PCA, regression and SVMs use them.
Use in class: Maths bridge for 16+ students
Machine LearningData Science
Intermediate Free online
The System Design Primer
The most-starred free system design guide: caching, load balancing, databases, worked interview problems and Anki cards.
Use in class: Interview prep for 16+ graduates
Architecture & System Design
Intermediate Email form
Data Quality Fundamentals
Monte Carlo made the full book free on its site. The offer page has moved more than once, so confirm the download before listing it.
Use in class: Messy customers, duplicates, failed API calls
Data Engineering
Intermediate Email form
Delta Lake: The Definitive Guide
Full 2024 book: the transaction log, medallion architecture, batch and streaming on the same tables.
Use in class: Late arrivals and hard deletes in the Dardania Fresh orders feed
Data EngineeringData Lake
Intermediate Email form
Kafka: The Definitive Guide, 2nd Edition
Streaming fundamentals. Confluent also offers a four-book O'Reilly bundle on the same form system.
Use in class: Extension: streaming the live orders table
Data EngineeringArchitecture & System Design
Intermediate Email form
Learning Spark, 2nd Edition
Spark 3.0 era (2020), examples in Python and SQL. Still the clearest intro to DataFrames and Spark SQL.
Use in class: Databricks Free Edition notebooks
Data EngineeringProgramming
Intermediate Email form
The Big Book of Data Engineering
How-tos, code snippets and real pipeline examples on the lakehouse. Databricks now ships a 4th edition; the form serves the current one.
Use in class: P1 data platform, Databricks Free Edition labs
Data EngineeringData Lake
Expert Email form
Apache Iceberg: The Definitive Guide
Iceberg table internals, partitioning and tuning, with Spark, Flink and Dremio.
Use in class: Extension reading on open table formats
Data EngineeringData Lake
Beginner Paid · publisher
Fundamentals of Data Engineering
The data engineering lifecycle end to end; the best first book for the field.
Use in class: Course backbone: one chapter per module
Data EngineeringArchitecture & System Design
Beginner Paid · publisher
Practical Statistics for Data Scientists, 2nd Edition
The statistics a data scientist actually uses, with Python and R.
Data Science
Beginner Paid · publisher
SQL for Data Analysis
Analysis in SQL: time series, cohorts, text, anomalies, experiments.
Use in class: Homework on the open datasets
SQLData Science
Beginner Paid · publisher
Storytelling with Data
How to make charts that people understand; great for data journalism.
Use in class: Before building dashboards and topic charts
Data Science
Beginner Paid · publisher
The Art of Statistics
How to learn from data, explained with real questions and almost no formulas.
Use in class: Reading before the statistics module; good for journalism students
Data Science
Beginner Paid · publisher
The Hundred-Page Machine Learning Book
Short and clear overview of machine learning; 'read first, buy later' on the author's site.
Machine Learning
Intermediate Paid · publisher
AI Engineering
Building applications on foundation models: evaluation, RAG, agents, fine-tuning, cost.
AI & LLMsMachine Learning
Intermediate Paid · publisher
Analytics Engineering with SQL and dbt
Modelling, testing and documenting analytics with SQL and dbt.
SQLData Engineering
Intermediate Paid · publisher
Analyzing Data with Power BI and Power Pivot for Excel
Data modelling for Power BI: stars, relationships, many-to-many, dates. Short and practical.
Use in class: Modelling the open datasets for a Power BI report
Power BI & DAX
Intermediate Paid · publisher
Data Engineering Design Patterns
Patterns for ingestion, idempotency, error handling and data quality; companion site with code.
Data EngineeringArchitecture & System Design
Intermediate Paid · publisher
Designing Machine Learning Systems
Taking ML to production: data, features, deployment, monitoring.
Machine LearningArchitecture & System Design
Intermediate Paid · publisher
Hands-On Machine Learning, 3rd Edition
The standard practical ML book: scikit-learn, Keras and TensorFlow, with notebooks.
Machine LearningProgramming
Intermediate Paid · publisher
The Data Warehouse Toolkit, 3rd Edition
Dimensional modelling: facts, dimensions, star schemas. Still the reference.
Use in class: Modelling the grocery company's orders as a star schema
Data EngineeringSQL
Expert Paid · publisher
Build a Large Language Model (From Scratch)
Code a GPT-style model step by step in PyTorch; the code is free on GitHub.
AI & LLMsMachine Learning
Expert Paid · publisher
Designing Data-Intensive Applications
How databases, replication, streams and batch systems really work. A classic.
Use in class: Teacher's desk; strong students
Architecture & System DesignData Engineering
Expert Paid · publisher
The Definitive Guide to DAX, 2nd Edition
The DAX book: evaluation contexts, time intelligence, performance. For when DAX gets hard.
Power BI & DAX
Checked and left out
- Snowflake: The Definitive Guide and Container Security, 2nd ed.: no official free copy found.
- Learning Spark, 1st Edition (2015): replaced by the free 2nd edition (DE-03).
- Copies of paid books on GitHub, archive.org or "free PDF" sites: unlicensed, never linked here. We link the publisher instead.
We link only to official pages. Paid books are not copied here, and "free PDF" mirror sites are never linked.