BENGALURU, December 12, 2018 : Data Science is an emerging field which is now being integrated with industries across all sectors. This year Analytics India Magazine, in association with Great Learning, decided to find out what goes on behind the making of a good Data Scientist. A thorough research was done to find out the tools and techniques used by the new technology professionals during this study. From language to coding and GPUs, this study encompasses interesting and insightful answers from the sector.
The samples were collected by asking respondents to fill in a survey created by AIM about what tools and techniques data scientists use at work. This included various sub-topics such as data visualisation tools, preferred operating systems and programming languages, among others. This also includes opinions from all those who practice data science – from professionals with less than two years of experience to CXOs – to get a thorough idea of the working environment in this growing field.
This survey was met with much enthusiasm – and it includes some great insights. Some of them were expected, and many of them were real eye-openers.
One of the key findings of the study was the fact that the favourite language for coding for data scientists in today’s era is Python, as almost 44% of professionals use it regularly. A close second is R at 35% – another clear favourite with data scientists, due to its versatility. It was also found out that Python users preferred the Pandas library most, at 41%, followed by Numpy at 24%.
With a plethora of data analytics tools available online, the survey asked data scientists if they were willing to use open source tools at work. The answer was a resounding yes. Almost 89% of the data scientists said that they preferred to work with open sourced tools. Only 8% data scientists said that they liked to work with custom-made tools which are tweaked and personalised for their particular projects.
Data visualisation might be tricky for many data scientists. Crunching numbers is one thing, but telling a story with numbers is a whole different deal. When asked about their favourite data visualisation too, the respondents had one clear winner: Tableau. More than half the respondents, 51%, said that they preferred to use Tableau as a dashboard or visualisation tool. It was followed by Microsoft BI at 12% and IBM Analytics at 11%.
AIM also asked the data science practitioners about their preferred cloud services provider. Amazon Web Services was a clear winner at 45% with Google Cloud following at 34%.
Bhasker Gupta, CEO and Founder of Analytics India Magazine said, “The study is indicative of a fact that a majority of data scientists in India prefer cutting-edge tools which are in sync with the global trends. Most of them are on a clear path to using simple, programmable tools which can help them draw actionable insights.”
Hari Krishnan Nair, Co-founder and Director at Great Learning, said, “Today the most relevant data analytics tools include Python, R and Tableau. Just 5 years back, this was very different. This is not surprising as the technology is evolving every day and offering better solutions to harness and make sense of data. All knowledge professionals will have to keep pace with this change and upskill regularly in order to solve the latest challenges at work. Data Science, Analytics, Machine Learning and AI are career-defining opportunities today and these are also fast-evolving fields. Lifelong learning is the way forward for all professionals who want to succeed in the Digital Economy.”
