Paul Kasemsap

พรพิพัฒน์ เกษมทรัพย์

 Paul Kasemsap

~wondering how plants turn air+water+dirt into food!

18 February 2022 -

Never have I ever… coded (and wondered into the world of data science)

I’ve always thought coding is so… technical. A few years back, I wouldn’t even imagine myself writing (still super basic) codes daily. Well, I guess it’s time to rethink!

When it comes to coding, I always associated the term with computing and all hi-tech stuffs. Perhaps I considered myself low-tech? – hence, I already decided coding is not something I would enjoy naturally. Plus, why would I need to learn how to code when I can already get by solving problems with current tools I’ve always been using?

For example, dealing with spreadsheets has never been a big deal. Since I mastered MS excel, especially how to use the ‘pivot table’ feature, data examination becomes a piece of cake. …at least until I started working with genetic datasets for my graduate school research.

Not only the genetic data sets are extremely large (yes, BIG data), that they keep crashing my PC (my poor PC… with a tiny memory), they can also be redundant. I can’t rely on using a spreadsheet interface like MS excel anymore; just reading the files alone took a few minutes… if I was able to open them at all without overwhelming my computing system, let alone analyzing and digging deeper for more insights.

Due to its popularity in my research field, I first started learning R. R is one of the many programming languages on the market. The project positions itself as an “environment for statistical computing and graphics”. I started using R to do all the magic tricks of statistics.

In fact, first learning how to do all analyses using a calculator (yes, back in my undergrad we computed everything for the analysis of variance (ANOVA) manually), really helps me better understand the basis of each analysis. I slowly became familiar with other fancy software, like SPSS, SAS, GenStat. But, most of these tools are $$. The “free” software movement that R is part of makes R very accessible.

I must admit that being free is one of them main reasons I began using R for my analyses – very basic analyses.

I finally decided to stay in the R community a bit longer. Partly, because MS excel can’t accommodate my regular data cleanup process anymore once my data sets grew too big. Coding not only allows me to complete my tasks, but also ensures reproductivity of my analysis pipeline. I’ve been using cloud and version controls (my own edition of version control - but it worked well so far), but learning git has made the journey even more fun. Hopefully with this standard practice, my works can be more accessible to others. <br:

My research literally pushed me to continue developing new skills to solve new problems. The COVID-19 pandemic research hiatus (2020s) allowed me to spend a little more time learning about this new ‘universe’. I was introduced to tidyverse and so many other cool packages. I found r4ds and learned so much from the accessible resources available in the community. Big thanks to all developers who keep sharing these great resources!

The key pivot moment is when I changed the way I see coding. I no longer view coding as a technical tool out of my reach. Perhaps after I know how to do more, I could see the possibility and make fun of the journey. Changing perspectives allow me to learn and develop new skills. Most of all, I now realize perhaps our thoughts are probably what limits of our possibilities the most.

Perhaps, too, thanks to my love for languages. Seeing coding as learning new languages (programming is indeed just another language; how could I not understand this earlier)– grammar, syntax, carrying a conversation, makes coding way less daunting.

The steps (and skills?) I find most helpful are 1) to set clear goals of what I want my code to do and 2) to break the path to reach my goals into smaller steps that I can code.

Slowly, I transitioned from a copy & paste coder to an amatuer writer (stackoverflow and google searches remain a savior, always).

I’m grateful for the movement to democratize these tools and skills. This is what made me love sciences in the first place – sciences helps advance our life.

Empowering the community to learn how to do sciences with accessible resources is key to making learning a lifelong skill.

This entry is meant for me to look back in the future and be reminded that if I keep pushing, I could do it, too! If you’re struggling, reach out to the community for help! I couldn’t get where I am without kind help from friends and colleagues. I find it more entertaining, and I did make progress faster when I learn with friends, too. Let’s find someone to bounce ideas with!

Never have I ever imagined myself doing all these (seemingly hi-tech) coding stuffs. Can you believe one day I would have made this website from codes – I did not. I’m very proud of myself finally doing what I once thought I would never be able to do. Still A LOT to learn. Excite to keep learning.

Why? – because it’s pretty fun to code now.

category: journey 
tag: science  gradschool 

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