How did it go?

I attended an online meetup related to data science and programming hosted by Data Science Dojo - New York. The topic is unit tests on data science codes, and the presenter is an applied scientist at Microsoft. The information can be found here (https://www.meetup.com/data-science-dojo-new-york/events/289358995/) The presenter first explained what unit tests are and why is it important. After the introduction, the presenter provided examples of real-world applications and the use cases of unit tests. Finally, the presenter gave the take-away and answered some questions. The meetup duration, including the Q&A session, is an hour.

What did you learn?

First of all, I learned what unit tests are and the importance of unit tests. Unit tests are important for software development. They can help the software engineers to check if the program works as expected, and they can promote quality code. I knew unit tests were widely used in software development, and now I learned they could also apply to data science code.

Second, the presentation is the introduction for unit tests on data science codes, and thus the presenter did not dive into the topic deeply. However, she provided a list of resources, and I could dive into the topic with the resources. For instance, the presenter provided a document related to the topic from Microsoft (https://microsoft.github.io/code-with-engineering-playbook/machine-learning/ml-testing/). I think the content is interesting, and the Microsoft document is the existing resource that can help me to explore this topic.

Finally, the presenter introduced the unit test tool she used. The tool is pytest. It is a framework that can write small tests. I think it is the right tool to use for unit tests because the presenter is from the industry and used it to do unit tests.

Would you find value in this kind of event after class?

I think one important thing about this kind of event is that I can learn how industry work. For instance, there is inherently a gap between industry and academia. Therefore, attending this kind of event made me understand the working flow and the tools they use in the industry. Moreover, I can keep updated on the popular techniques in the industry.

How was the experience different from your expectations?

I expected that maybe I could not understand the content comprehensively since I had never learned anything about unit tests. However, the presentation was easy to understand, and the presenter also provided a lot of resources. I think this presentation is a great starting point for learning this topic, and I can explore the topic more with the resources.

Could you see yourself becomming a member of a professional community like this in the future?

As a Master’s student majoring in information science, applied scientist is a dream position for me. My focus area is natural language processing and its application. If I can work in the industry, I believe I will be willing to share my experience.