The Data Scientist vs. the Data Engineer Reloaded (2024)

The Data Scientist vs. the Data Engineer?

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Data Engineer gains more hype vs. Data Science in 2020s.

Hey Guys,

I’m not a software engineer but the debate of Data Scientist vs. Data Engineer rages on. How would you summarize this debate? I wanted to sort of answer some of the FAQs on this topic. I hope this summary is helpful to someone out there reading this.

But think about it, careers within the field of data science have in recent years seen soaring demand, with the Bureau of Labor Statistics forecasting a 22% increase in job growth from 2020-2030—much higher than the average growth of other occupations.

Which is better data science or data engineer?

Simply put, the data scientist can interpret data only after receiving it in an appropriate format. The data engineer's job is to get the data to the data scientist. Thus, as of now,data engineers are more in demand than data scientistsbecause tools cannot perform the tasks of a data engineer.

In the recent past, the general belief in the industry was that as more and more advanced automation tools are developed, the need for pure data scientists would erode. But that hasn’t played out (yet) and may not.

Data Engineers Earn More

What pays more data engineer or data scientist?

Data engineering does not garner the same amount of media attention when compared to data scientists, yet theiraverage salary tends to be higher than the data scientistaverage: $137,000 (data engineer) vs. $121,000 (data scientist).

You do the math, over a career that’s a significant difference.

Data science is easier to learn than data engineering.

Why? Well there's simply more resources available for data science, and there are a number of tools and libraries that have been built to make data science easier.

It’s all a bit confusing as these titles are different at different organizations, for instance:

Can a data scientist become a data engineer?

At some organizations, data scientists are tasked with doing things that data engineers should. Whiledata scientists aren't equipped with the skills to become data engineers, they can acquire the skills. On the other hand, it's far less common when data engineers begin doing data science.

Job Descriptions are Different

Today, the main difference between these two data professionals is that data engineers build and maintain the systems and structures that store, extract, and organize data, while data scientists analyze that data to predict trends, glean business insights, and answer questions that are relevant to the organization.

  • Builders vs. Storytelling

That is, Data scientists build and train predictive models using data after it’s been cleaned, and then they communicate their analysis to managers and executives. Data engineers build and maintain the systems that allow data scientists to access and interpret data. The role generally involves creating data models, building data pipelines and overseeing ETL (extract, transform, load).

  • Engineering vs. Communication

That’s not to say that data scientists aren’t technical, they just aren’t only working on Engineering.

Why data engineer is better than data scientist?

Data Engineers collect relevant Data. They move and transform this Data into “pipelines” for the Data Science team. They could use programming languages such as Java, Scala, C++ or Python depending on their task. Data Scientists analyze, test, aggregate, optimize the data and present it for the company.

So it all depends in the workflow where you prefer to be.

The science part of Datascience might not appeal to everyone:

As part of their job, they conduct online experiments, develop hypotheses, and use their knowledge of statistics, data analytics, data visualization, and machine learning algorithms to identify trends and create forecasts for the business.

While data engineers are really knee deep in the nitty gritty.

Does data science require coding?

All jobs in Data Science require some degree of codingand experience with technical tools and technologies. To summarize: Data Engineer: Moderate amount of Python, more knowledge of SQL and optional but preferable is knowledge on a Cloud Platform.

The past five years we’ve been trying to decode the difference between Data Science and Data Engineering and it may still in 2022 depend on the company, industry and the needs of the moment.

Many data engineers and data scientists hold a bachelor’s degree in computer science or a related field such as mathematics, statistics, economics, or information technology.

But think about it, with the increasing integration of AI and machine learning in data analytics platforms, the data scientist of tomorrow may no longer need to have degrees in quantitative fields or to develop algorithms from scratch. What do you think?

Data Science Still Out earns MBAs

Who earns more MBA or data scientist?

The recent placement data from Symbiosis Pune reflects that a postgraduate program inData Sciencewhen compared to a general MBA degree has better placement opportunities in terms of average salary and highest package offered.

Data Engineering is still a tough sport and is considered a stressful job:

Is data engineering stressful?

Many factors force data engineers to work long, irregular schedules that take a toll on their well-being. In fact,78% of survey respondents wish their job came with a therapist to help manage work-related stress.

ADataquest blogexplains that the data engineer usually lays the groundwork for the data scientist to “analyze and visualize data.” Some of the initial tasks performed by the data engineer may include managing data sources, managing databases, and launching tools to make the data scientist’s job easy. So, strictly speaking, the data engineer handles all the back-end tasks of data analytics that lay hidden from the public eye.

Different Types of Data Engineers

Read the full article here.

If you enjoy programming, datascience and WFH topics, you can subscribe to Datascience Learning Centerhere. I cannot continue to write without tips, patronage and community support.

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The Data Scientist vs. the Data Engineer Reloaded (2024)
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