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I became a software engineer after 5 years in data science

zachary-thomas.medium.com

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Re: I became a software engineer after 5 years in data science

#31

Post by nkingsy »

eddsh1994 wrote: post #22
halfmatthalfcat wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The US doesn't have software "engineering" degrees, so how does one exactly study software engineering? Computer science, too, is not "engineering".

The UK does, you can get chartered engineer status with a BSc & MSc in Software Engineering or Computer Science if it's applied enough with the IET. When I looked at the US i'm 99% sure I found similar degrees in Software Engineering too.

I’ve never seen a “software engineering” degree on a resume as an interviewer in the us.

Re: I became a software engineer after 5 years in data science

#32

Post by dragonwriter »

bee_rider wrote: post #27
switchbak wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've worked with a bunch of engineers, and while I respect and admire them tremendously, I'd not want to be lumped in with the kind of code they generally write. And don't get me started on the typical code a scientist writes! Let the downvotes commence. Edit: This is a gentle ribbing, but there really does seem to be a different approach in the philosophy of how to solve a problem. Engineers seem to eschew abstracti…

If they wanted to built their own abstractions they’d be scientists. Actually this is one thing that has always confused me about “software engineers,” at least as someone with an engineering education who isn’t doing engineering work really: we learned how to do particular types of problems very well and reliably, and generally learned a bunch of math tricks. But at a fundamental level the material that the physics…

> Since most programmers have computer science degrees, why don’t we call ourselves computer scientists?

Because they aren’t doing scientific research, they are applying the products of such research to design (and build; with software the distinction is less significant than with many physical items) products, so its somewhere between architecture/engineering and constructiom, rather than science.

Re: I became a software engineer after 5 years in data science

#33

Post by nicce »

cscurmudgeon wrote: post #28
nicce wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Very odd. Usually engineers love abstraction where I am coming from. The simpler the solution, better it usually is. Helps understanding the whole system, making it less complex. Simplicity causes less bugs. Of course, you can do too much abstraction.

Have you never run into Matlab code with a few hundred global variables mutating frequently? :)

Okay. I was referreing into software engineers, not data engineers :-)

Re: I became a software engineer after 5 years in data science

#36

Post by cletus »

I will add that certain SWE fields rely upon and interact heavily with DS and for anyone wanting to make the switch, this is a natural "in".

Any company with a rigorous approach to product development or even SRE will rely heavily on metrics. The ability to create, maintain, monitor, transform, understand and reason about those metrics is invaluable. To decide what to work on and the quantify your contribution, the ability to effectively run experiments is invaluable. This will naturally fit into a structured product management cycle.

This will be a way more natural fit than, say, "purer" software development (eg writing device drivers).

So much of successful software engineering is not just how to do something but deciding what to do (and not do).

Re: I became a software engineer after 5 years in data science

#37

Post by Sephr »

Waterluvian wrote: post #10
Bingaloopa wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Software Engineer and Software Developer are used interchangeably for the most part and I don't think you can really get any meaningful distinction just by the name (in most countries at least). Some countries (Canada I think being one?) may require you be licensed/registered with an engineering body before you're allowed to call yourself an engineer, but thats not the case in most countries AFAIK

Indeed. I worked at a Canadian company that got a legal nastygram from the professional association saying to stop calling us engineers. Then I started working for an American company that was like shrug no laws against that. I just can’t say professional engineer. The whole thing makes a ton of sense when we’re building bridges or airplane safety rated computer systems, but not so much when building websites or what…

You can definitely call yourself a professional software engineer in the US.

Re: I became a software engineer after 5 years in data science

#38

Post by cscurmudgeon »

nicce wrote: post #33
cscurmudgeon wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Have you never run into Matlab code with a few hundred global variables mutating frequently? :)

Okay. I was referreing into software engineers, not data engineers :-)

Ah, I was referring to general engineers, like chemical or mech engineers :)

Re: I became a software engineer after 5 years in data science

#39

Post by thomzi12 »

darth_avocado wrote: post #35

Sorry for the tangent, but medium is so bad. Can’t read content without installing the app or logging in. Part of the reason I stopped writing on medium and jumped to Substack.

Oh, I'm sorry about that! Here's a friend link that should allow you to bypass any paywall (if you've already read a couple paywalled posts): https://zachary-thomas.medium.com/how-i-became-a-software-en...

Here's an earlier draft of the post on Quip: https://gstudent.quip.com/ILF1ABpvjsSh/Can-a-Data-Scientist-...

Re: I became a software engineer after 5 years in data science

#40

Post by thomzi12 »

cletus wrote: post #36

I will add that certain SWE fields rely upon and interact heavily with DS and for anyone wanting to make the switch, this is a natural "in". Any company with a rigorous approach to product development or even SRE will rely heavily on metrics. The ability to create, maintain, monitor, transform, understand and reason about those metrics is invaluable. To decide what to work on and the quantify your contribution, the a…

Yes -- one thing I struggle with is choosing whether to work on data engineering projects (which I know I'm good at and can provide immediate value) or challenging myself with more "traditional" full-stack engineering work where I can learn a lot.

Maybe a 60/40 mix is optimal

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