Data Science is the great buzzword these days, and to be honest, we all know how all the businesses are using data. There is much confusion for the graduates, working professionals about the career path. They are not sure about which way to take and what pays more.

The question which runs in their minds currently is should I go for a Data Science? Or software engineering? To answer this question, one has to understand the difference between both.

What is the work that both Data Scientist and Software Developer do?

A software developer is an individual who writes lines of codes, designs and develops complete software architecture for complex systems. In contrast, a Data Scientist is the one who solves complex data problems with various elements such as mathematics, computer science, etc.

What is the payscale of a Data Scientist and Software Engineer?

It depends on the skillset; the average base salary of a Data Scientist in the United States is $122,839 per year. A person with no experience can earn around $103,884, whereas an individual with four years of experience can earn $141,550 per year.

The average salary of a software engineer is $109,335 per year in the U.S. If a person is senior and has the experience, he can earn $120,052 per year.

Scope of Data Scientists and Software Developers

Software Engineers mainly create products that create data, while data scientists analyze the same data. Data Scientists convert useful information into the user data which a business can use, and developers work on developing the Apps and mobile Apps. 

Business direly needs data scientists to extract useful data for various purposes, such as marketing, financing, banking, etc. Data never ends, software engineering is the current trend, but data science is the future. Many businesses have been crunching data to make decisions, predict the stock market, trade, weather conditions, and whatnot for decades now, and this is what data science is all about! Today data is growing like a can of worms. Almost every company is dealing with a million bytes of data. Shortly, every enterprise will deal with 50 times more data which is being generated now. That is, most being unstructured requires data scientists to extract, make it in a useful format, and consume for business use.

Can a software engineer become a data scientist?

Yes ! it is easier for a software developer to become data scientists. A better understanding of data science concepts and hands-on experience in a data science project is all required. Many organizations and industries are using data Science. 

Software Developers have to know how to develop the algorithms and use statistical models for the data. Becoming a data scientist is an incredible journey. Once you are, you will love the life of being a data scientist. 

One should be familiar with languages like SQL, R, Python, SPSS, and SAS. It will be an added advantage if one knows the statistical models to improve algorithms based on the work.

It’s time to take a quick decision and upgrade your future. Click here to know more about data science.

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