1  Introduction

1.1 Why for Social and Data Scientists?

• Many social and data scientists
  • Use coding to solve problems + produce deliverables
  • Don’t have a software engineering background
• Many “get better at coding” resources assume either
  • Little to no background using code
  • A software-engineering background for using code

Therefore, most resources will either:

• Have a ton of extra fluff data and social scientists don’t need
  • People give up out of boredom
• Feel unapproachable to non-software engineers
  • People give up due to a steep learning curve

This resource aims to flatten that learning curve.

The goal is not to become a software engineer. Instead this resource will teach you to approach code in a way that will make a myriad of other resources more useful.

1.2 Why “Just Enough”?

Because scope-creep is the enemy. There’s a version of this book that’s 1,000 pages long. No social or data scientist has time to read that book.

The guiding principle for this book:

Provide concise, accessible steps for thinking about code like a software engineer

1.3 Core Principles

Throughout this book, we’ll explore software engineering through several core principles:

1. Don’t start coding yet: How to stop writing code without a plan
2. Where to write less code: Each section of your code can do less than you think
3. Where to write more code: Testing + logging will become your new best friends
4. Future-proofing: Make sure your code can still run + get accessed when you need it in 6 months