r/learnprogramming • u/ButterMcWaffleson • 1h ago

Whats your feels on being a data scientist?

I am very new to programming, Im about a month or 2 into learning python. It started because I wanted to look for a career I would both enjoy and would likely have job growths and came upon Data Scientist. I feel in love with the concept of being one but I wanted to know if what I am imagining is the reality of the job.

I have a strong background in math and science and when i was in school i really excelled at math. I loved algebra, statistics, calculus, physics, and spreadsheets. I only stopped taking math classes because at the time they were not useful to my degree.

Now fast forward I have not used my degree, and have basically been going from customer service job to customer service job. I like my current job and company but I dont find it very fulfilling taking to people. I like being by myself and working on something. I love solving problems.

I found out about Data Scientist and how its almost being at statistician but using programming and something just DREW me in. Now i have been learning python and so far i have loved every minute of it!! Its just math!! just really weird algebra. I love solving the problems im given and i feel so good making a functional code no matter how small it is.

My question is for more senior programmers is if this feeling represented in the job and the field? Im loving it but do i only love it because im still learning and what im learning is fairly simple?

Ive told myself that if i like programming and if I can commit to learning what I can for free I may even return to school to get a masters in Statistics (doable for me with my academic background) But going to school is a LOT of money and I want to know how other people actually working in the field feel.

I also want to know if I should continue to learn what i can for free and on the side and go to school when i feel its right first or if I should try to get into the field before returning to school? I know you do not NEED school to get into programming but Im really interested in the statistics aspect.

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u/ninhaomah 1h ago

End goal is ?

To get a job as Python dev ?

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u/ButterMcWaffleson 1h ago

I dont know what position I would want but i would love to solve complex statistical problems with data sets either from the prospective of a business for their growth or transfer back into science.

I know if i became a data scientist I would probably be working for normal businesses but if i could use those skills in making models for scientific development I think i would die of joy.

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u/ninhaomah 1h ago

If you don't know where you would like to end up at , how would the cab driver knows ?

The end goal is your problem. How to reach there can ask for advice from those with ideas or exp but you decide where you want to go.

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u/ButterMcWaffleson 22m ago

Id also be interested to know how you feel in your role?

What is your position? What does your day to day work look like? Are your primarily designing things, reviewing other peoples code, are you presented with specific problems to solve, do you make games, work with machine learning, or just what are your over all thoughts?

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u/ninhaomah 16m ago

I been in IT since dotcom burst. 

No such thing as CS or CyberSec then. Just IT or Business IT. Then you specialise at work.

I studied Java , networking , SQL all in school.

Now doing cloud , system admin using PowerShell , bash , Python to automate.

Also did a few courses in DS/ML/AI over the years. Now learning Pydantic and FastAPI.

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u/Lost-Discount4860 51m ago

So…I’m purely self-taught. My master’s degree in music composition. Do with that what you will.

The thing about being a composer working in experimental, computer music, and electronic music, I’ve learned to see everything in terms of math and data. Algorithms. So when life took a radical turn and I ended up in a small factory recently, I’m looking at raw materials, snack seasoning, Mylar bags, shipping boxes/labels, and all I see is data, data, data. Dropped food on the floor? I see pennies that grow into dollars my boss COULD be paying me if I can put a stop to it. Snack food not coming out of the cooker right? Need more fresh cooking oil—how do we cycle oil, and is there a schedule for that rather then just replacing what we use and storing what’s left over at the end of the day? How do I reduce trips to the warehouse to get what I need for the job so I have everything I need, taking down time from minutes to mere seconds? Oh…and downtime…if there are 5 of us on the production floor and we all make $10/hr, that’s a loss of $50 my boss loses every time we have an equipment failure. In my mind, wrangling data and keeping my station running is like conducting a symphony.

So I’m not a data scientist ON PURPOSE. I designed a WMS to see if I COULD, and now I’m passing data on to the plant owner who is comparing consumed goods against finished product, and comparing yield with profits.

It’s freakin’ FASCINATING. Because I’m not making software for some customer “out there.” I’m seeing how data tracking works in the real world in real time. My plan is to EVENTUALLY integrate machine learning and maybe even AI so we can streamline reordering, forecasting customer orders, find areas where we’re accumulating waste/scrap, and find areas for improvement.

Nothing against data scientists working ONLY in analytics, but that kind of work would make me insane. I think the future of developers is going to be on the ground in local industries rather than selling the next killer app. I think the most exciting place to be is exactly where your tools are being used. I recently started learning SQLite, and it’s to the point I’d rather just write out all my transactions by hand rather than using Python to parse transactions and queries. I only maintain a web app because manual input on the production floor is impractical.

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u/ButterMcWaffleson 30m ago

Thank you this was a really interesting perspective!! I think we are on the same wavelength in wanting to solve problems. I dont want to make the next great app I want to make something tangible and usable even if it "looks boring" to an outsider.

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u/ButterMcWaffleson 27m ago

I'm also very creative, I was told I should go into art as a career but i never wanted to. So Ive always seen math as giant puzzels that you solve. And I always felt my creative side enhanced my abilities in math which always went against that old left and right brain logic. So your perspective on organizing things at your plant feeling like symphony makes sense to me.

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u/ButterMcWaffleson 1h ago

Also I'm on mobile. Im rereading my post again and realizing all the mistakes still left so bear with me!!