Transitioning from Data Developer to Data Scientist

In this chapter (and throughout all of the chapters of this book), we will chart your course for starting and continuing the journey from thinking like a data developer to thinking like a data scientist.

Using developer terminologies and analogies, we will discuss a developer's objectives, what a typical developer mindset might be like, how it differs from a data scientist's mindset, why there are important differences (as well as similarities) between the two and suggest how to transition yourself into thinking like a data scientist. Finally, we will suggest certain advantages of understanding statistics and data science, taking a data perspective, as well as simply thinking like a data scientist.

In this chapter, we've broken things into the following topics:

• The objectives of the data developer role
• How a data developer thinks
• The differences between a data developer and a data scientist
• Advantages of thinking like a data scientist
• The steps for transitioning into a data scientist mindset

So, let's get started!