data engineering

Data engineering is the practice of designing and building

systems for the aggregation, storage and analysis of data at
scale. Data engineers empower organizations to get insights
in real time from large datasets.
From social media and marketing metrics to employee performance statistics
and trend forecasts, enterprises have all the data they need to compile a
holistic view of their operations. Data engineers transform massive
quantities of data into valuable strategic findings.

With proper data engineering, stakeholders across an organization—

executives, developers, data scientists and business intelligence (BI)
analysts—can access the datasets they need at any time in a manner that is
reliable, convenient and secure.

Organizations have access to more data—and more data types—than ever

before. Every bit of data can potentially inform a crucial business decision.
Data engineers govern data management for downstream use including
analysis, forecasting or machine learning.

As specialized computer scientists, data engineers excel at creating and

deploying algorithms, data pipelines and workflows that sort raw data into
ready-to-use datasets. Data engineering is an integral component of
the modern data platform and makes it possible for businesses to analyze
and apply the data they receive, regardless of the data source or format.
Even under a decentralized data mesh management system, a core team of
data engineers is still responsible for overall infrastructure health.

Guide10 advanced data

Data engineers have a range of day-to-day responsibilities. Here are several

key use cases for data engineering:
Data collection, storage and management
Data engineers streamline data intake and storage across an organization for
convenient access and analysis. This facilitates scalability by storing data
efficiently and establishing processes to manage it in a way that is easy to
maintain as a business grows. The field of DataOps automates data
management and is made possible by the work of data engineers.
Real-time data analysis

With the right data pipelines in place, businesses can automate the
processes of collecting, cleaning and formatting data for use in data
analytics. When vast quantities of usable data are accessible from one
location, data analysts can easily find the information they need to help
business leaders learn and make key strategic decisions.

The solutions that data engineers create set the stage for real-time learning
as data flows into data models that serve as living representations of an
organization's status at any given moment.
Machine learning
Machine learning (ML) uses vast reams of data to train artificial
intelligence (AI) models and improve their accuracy. From the product
recommendation services seen in many e-commerce platforms to the fast-
growing field of generative AI (gen AI), ML algorithms are in widespread use.
Machine learning engineers rely on data pipelines to transport data from the
point at which it is collected to the models that consume it for training.
What is the data engineering role like?

Data engineers build systems that convert mass quantities of raw data into
usable core data sets containing the essential data their colleagues need.
Otherwise, it would be extremely difficult for end users to access and
interpret the data spread across an enterprise's operational systems.

Core data sets are tailored to a specific downstream use case and designed
to convey all the required data in a usable format with no superfluous
information. The three pillars of a strong core data set are:
1. Ease of use
The data as a product (DaaP) method of data management emphasizes
serving end users with accessible, reliable data. Analysts, scientists,
managers and other business leaders should encounter as few obstacles as
possible when accessing and interpreting data.
2. Context-based
Good data isn't just a snapshot of the present—it provides context by
conveying change over time. Strong core data sets will showcase historical
trends and give perspective to inform more strategic decision-making.
3. Comprehensive
Data integration is the practice of aggregating data from across an
enterprise into a unified dataset and is one of the primary responsibilities of
the data engineering role. Data engineers make it possible for end users to
combine data from disparate sources as required by their work.
How does data engineering work?

Data engineering governs the design and creation of the data pipelines that
convert raw, unstructured data into unified datasets that preserve data
quality and reliability.

Data pipelines form the backbone of a well-functioning data infrastructure

and are informed by the data architecture requirements of the business they
serve. Data observability is the practice by which data engineers monitor
their pipelines to ensure that end users receive reliable data.

The data integration pipeline contains three key phases:

1. Data ingestion
Data ingestion is the movement of data from various sources into a single
ecosystem. These sources can include databases, cloud computing platforms
such as Amazon Web Services (AWS), IoT devices, data lakes and
warehouses, websites and other customer touchpoints. Data engineers use
APIs to connect many of these data points into their pipelines.
Each data source stores and formats data in a specific way, which may
be structured or unstructured. While structured data is already formatted for
efficient access, unstructured data is not. Through data ingestion, the data is
unified into an organized data system ready for further refinement.
2. Data transformation
Data transformation prepares the ingested data for end users such as
executives or machine learning engineers. It is a hygiene exercise that finds
and corrects errors, removes duplicate entries and normalizes data for
greater data reliability. Then, the data is converted into the format required
by the end user.
3. Data serving
Once the data has been collected and processed, it’s delivered to the end
user. Real-time data modeling and visualization, machine learning datasets
and automated reporting systems are all examples of common data serving
methods.
What is the difference between data engineering, data analysis and data science?

Data engineering, data science, and data analytics are closely related fields.
However, each is a focused discipline filling a unique role within a larger
enterprise. These three roles work together to ensure that organizations can
make the most of their data.

 Data scientists use machine learning, data exploration and

other academic fields to predict future outcomes. Data science is
an interdisciplinary field focused on making accurate predictions
through algorithms and statistical models. Like data engineering,
data science is a code-heavy role requiring an extensive
programming background.

 Data analysts examine large datasets to identify trends and

extract insights to help organizations make data-driven decisions
today. While data scientists apply advanced computational
techniques to manipulate data, data analysts work with
 predefined datasets to uncover critical information and draw
meaningful conclusions.

 Data engineers are software engineers who build and maintain

an enterprise’s data infrastructure—automating data integration,
creating efficient data storage models and enhancing data quality
via pipeline observability. Data scientists and analysts rely on
data engineers to provide them with the reliable, high-quality
data they need for their work.
Which data tools do data engineers use?

The data engineering role is defined by its specialized skill set. Data
engineers must be proficient with numerous tools and technologies to
optimize the flow, storage, management and quality of data across an
organization.
Data pipelines: ETL vs. ELT

When building a pipeline, a data engineer automates the data integration

process with scripts—lines of code that perform repetitive tasks. Depending
on their organization's needs, data engineers construct pipelines in one of
two formats: ETL or ELT.

ETL: extract, transform, load

ETL pipelines automate the retrieval and storage of data in a database. The
raw data is extracted from the source, transformed into a standardized
format by scripts and then loaded into a storage destination. ETL is the most
commonly used data integration method, especially when combining data
from multiple sources into a unified format.
ELT: extract, load, transform
ELT pipelines extract raw data and import it into a centralized repository
before standardizing it through transformation. The collected data can later
be formatted as needed on a per use basis, offering a higher degree of
flexibility than ELT pipelines.
Data storage solutions

The systems that data engineers create often begin and end with data
storage solutions: harvesting data from one location, processing it and then
depositing it elsewhere at the end of the pipeline.

Cloud computing services

Proficiency with cloud computing platforms is essential for a successful
career in data engineering. Microsoft Azure Data Lake Storage, Amazon S3
and other AWS solutions, Google Cloud and IBM Cloud® are all popular
platforms.
Relational databases
A relational database organizes data according to a system of predefined
relationships. The data is arranged into rows and columns that form a table
conveying the relationships between the data points. This structure allows
even complex queries to be performed efficiently.
Analysts and engineers maintain these databases with relational database
management systems (RDBMS). Most RDBMS solutions use SQL for handling
queries, with MySQL and PostgreSQL as two of the leading open source
RDBMS options.
NoSQL databases
SQL isn’t the only option for database management. NoSQL
databases enable data engineers to build data storage solutions without
relying on traditional models. Since NoSQL databases don’t store data in
predefined tables, they allow users to work more intuitively without as much
advance planning. NoSQL offers more flexibility along with easier horizontal
scalability when compared to SQL-based relational databases.
Data warehouses
Data warehouses collect and standardize data from across an enterprise to
establish a single source of truth. Most data warehouses consist of a three-
tiered structure: a bottom tier storing the data, a middle tier enabling fast
queries and a user-facing top tier. While traditional data warehousing models
only support structured data, modern solutions can store unstructured data.

By aggregating data and powering fast queries in real-time, data warehouses

enhance data quality, provide quicker business insights and enable strategic
data-driven decisions. Data analysts can access all the data they need from
a single interface and benefit from real-time data modeling and visualization.

Data lakes
While a data warehouse emphasizes structure, a data lake is more of a
freeform data management solution that stores large quantities of both
structured and unstructured data. Lakes are more flexible in use and more
affordable to build than data warehouses as they lack the requirement for
predefined schema.

Data lakes house new, raw data, especially the unstructured big data ideal
for training machine learning systems. But without sufficient management,
data lakes can easily become data swamps: messy hoards of data too
convoluted to navigate.

Many data lakes are built on the Hadoop product ecosystem, including real-
time data processing solutions such as Apache Spark and Kafka.
Data lakehouses
Data lakehouses are the next stage in data management. They mitigate the
weaknesses of both the warehouse and lake models. Lakehouses blend the
cost optimization of lakes with the structure and superior management of the
warehouse to meet the demands of machine learning, data science and BI
applications.
Programming languages

As a computer science discipline, data engineering requires an in-depth

knowledge of various programming languages. Data engineers use
programming languages to construct their data pipelines.

 SQL or structured querying language, is the predominant

database creation and manipulation programming language. It
forms the basis for all relational databases and may be used in
NoSQL databases as well.
 Python offers a wide range of prebuilt modules to speed up
many aspects of the data engineering process, from building
complex pipelines with Luigi to managing workflows with Apache
Airflow. Many user-facing software applications use Python as
their foundation.
 Scala is a good choice for use with big data as it meshes well
with Apache Spark. Unlike Python, Scala permits developers to
program multiple concurrency primitives and simultaneously
execute several tasks. This parallel processing ability makes
Scala a popular choice for pipeline construction.
 Java is a popular choice for the backend of many data
engineering pipelines. When organizations opt to build their own
in-house data processing solutions, Java is often the
programming language of choice. It also underpins Apache Hive,
an analytics-focused warehouse tool.