Hi there,
Welcome to my last newsletter of 2024! I wanted to check-in one final time and share with you a new article I’ve recently published.
✨ Quick Updates
Since my last email at the start of November, I’ve completed a 6-week Technical Writing Course. It really pushed me outside my comfort zone and I learnt so many techniques and tools that I can’t wait to put into practise. I’ve loved connecting with other writers in the data space and learning from them too. So far I have several half-formed articles that I will be finishing up in the coming weeks! Follow me on Medium or BlueSky to find out when they are released.
I’d like to say a big thank you to everyone who filled in the survey from the last newsletter. It was super helpful to see what you’re most interested in reading about. There’s still time to fill in the survey here if you’d like to share your thoughts!
💭 Reflecting on the year
My goal for 2024 was to share 10 articles with you. Back in November, I was hoping I could get an article out every week for the rest of the year to get another 9 published and hit the goal. I had soo many ideas but soon realised the plan was probably a little too ambitious and totally did not happen, unsurprisingly 😂
The writing course did get me back to writing more regularly and I do have a few 1st drafts pretty much written and several more outlines done. However, they all still need lots of polishing before they’re ready to release into the world.
I do have an article to share with you today though. If you are a pandas user, this article is for you!
🆕 Joining data in pandas: merge vs. join
Understand the differences and never have to google it again!
Between now and the New Year I will be doing a full year review and setting goals for 2025. I love taking some time to sit down, reflect on everything from the year that’s passed and realign my vision for the coming year. I’d love to hear from you and what your approach is to planning. Do you plan and set goals or just see what the year brings?
🚀 Coming Soon
I’m excited to get back into a writing routine so expect more of these newsletters landing in your inbox in 2025! There’s lots of topics I want to learn more about and I find that writing really helps me to process concepts. If you’d like to join me as I share my learnings and expertise, check out my stories on Medium and be sure to subscribe!
💜 My recommendations
In the survey, most of you wanted to hear more about Data Engineering. Here are a few resource I’ve been checking out recently:
👀 I highly recommend Data Engineer Things!
I’ve read so many excellent articles on there lately including this article comparing Apache Iceberg to Hadoop and this technical deep dive on Airflow's dynamic task mapping.
▶️ I also watched this interview where Benjamin Rogojan talks with Tom Rampley about how Data Modelling has evolved throughout his career. I especially loved all the book recommendations towards the end and have added several to my wishlist!
Thank you for reading, I hope you found something of value in today’s update and I wish you all the best for the New Year!
If you enjoyed this and think a friend or colleague might too, hit the share button below so they don’t miss out!
See you in 2025!
Kerry