I can guarantee you that every data scientist, and I’m sure this extends to software developers too. Google basic code all the time. It’s just part of the job.

Google to us is our senior engineer, with StackOverflow being our tech lead and software documentation as our colleague.

…maybe not the best analogy, but it’s safe to say we use google as our second brain.

A common thing I notice amongst new programmers and new students of the art of data science. They try so hard to memorize every single function from all the different tools I teach them.

Whenever they ask for help, especially for programming specific things. This is what I usually do:

  1. Go to google

  2. Google the question or error or documentation

  3. Find the answer

  4. Implement the answer for the student.

Many times I know the answer to their questions, but what I’m trying to reinforce is the habit of googling and troubleshoot on your own. An essential skill for any developer/data scientist to survive on the job.

For any new developer/data scientist is reading this. Don’t beat yourself up for not memorizing everything you have learned, and you are constantly googling. That is normal, as long as you’re troubleshooting on your own and solving your own problems. You are growing! It’s okay!

Happy coding!