Top data engineering writer on Medium & Senior Data Engineer in media; I use my skills as a former journalist to demystify data science/programming concepts so beginners to professionals can target, land and excel in data-driven roles.
[ETR #31] Master An Underappreciated DE Skill
Extract. Transform. Read.A newsletter from Pipeline. *Today's edition was initially published on Medium on 12/10/24 Hi past, present or future data professional! I’ve recently been honing a data engineering skill that might not occur to you—drawing. When I first started my data engineering job 3+ years ago, any description or information related to my code would be in written form. This meant everything from README documentation to illegible legal pad scribbles would be all I had to inform decisions about design and implementation. Lately, however, my tasks have grown in both complexity and volume. What I need to convey to myself and my team won't fit on one sheet of paper. And if it did, it wouldn’t make a bit of sense. So I’ve turned to diagramming tools. I use tools like Microsoft Visio and Draw IO to create clear depictions of pipelines. This makes it easy to:
And, finally, the act of creating an architecture (arch) diagram subtly communicates something: That significant thought went into what you want to propose or present. Anyone can scribble in a shared doc or reference a notebook of ideas. Taking the time to spend time compiling a visualization demonstrates intent and care. This translates to you communicating your investment in making sure your build is possible and functional. Otherwise, it’s back to the (literal) drawing board. Feel free to scribble down this week’s links.
Questions? zach@pipelinetode.com Thanks for ingesting, -Zach Quinn |
Pipeline To DE
Top data engineering writer on Medium & Senior Data Engineer in media; I use my skills as a former journalist to demystify data science/programming concepts so beginners to professionals can target, land and excel in data-driven roles.
Extract. Transform. Read. A newsletter from Pipeline Hi past, present or future data professional! From 2014-2017 I lived in Phoenix, Arizona and enjoyed the state’s best resident privilege: No daylight saving time. If you’re unaware (and if you're in the other 49 US states, you’re really unaware), March 9th was daylight saving, when we spring forward an hour. If you think this messes up your microwave and oven clocks, just wait until you check on your data pipelines. Even though data teams...
Extract. Transform. Read. A newsletter from Pipeline Hi past, present or future data professional! As difficult as data engineering can be, 95% of the time there is a structure to data that originates from external streams, APIs and vendor file deliveries. Useful context is provided via documentation and stakeholder requirements. And specific libraries and SDKs exist to help speed up the pipeline build process. But what about the other 5% of the time when requirements might be structured, but...
Extract. Transform. Read. A newsletter from Pipeline Hi past, present or future data professional! To clarify the focus of this edition of the newsletter, the reason you shouldn’t bother learning certain data engineering skills is due to one of two scenarios— You won’t need them You’ll learn them on the job You won’t need them Generally these are peripheral skills that you *technically* need but will hardly ever use. One of the most obvious skills, for most data engineering teams, is any...