Introduction

Data is important in almost every field nowadays. This means that data scientists have become a fundamental part of a lot of companies. Data science is a rapidly growing field with multiple potentials and its applications are increasing everyday. As it is a promising field, plenty of people are definitely going to be interested in joining this world. It is thus expected that an increase in data scientists might occur soon. However just like other careers, data science is also quite challenging when proper planning is not done, and that is why I am here. So here I will explain what you need to know as you plan on joining this path. So basically this is me helping you with a roadmap.

What is Data Science?

Data Science is basically the use of data to understand and explain patterns and events. It is a multidisciplinary field that combines maths, statistics, machine learning and other basic computer science knowledge to analyse data.
 
Why is Data Science Needed?
We need data science for predictive purposes, for example predicting what the price of a product could be in 5 years time.
It is also used to predict success of a product factoring in trends and its usage in the population. In medical field it is used to predict the expected increase or decrease in occurrence of a disease in the future as well as data driven approaches in certain medical procedures such as vaccinations and surgeries.
In the current data driven state of the world, data science provides meaningful insights from this data, enabling better decision making and improved operations.

Data science is used for analysis. This is obvious since there's application of statistical knowledge to extract hidden patterns.

What You Need to Know
You need to know that you need to have a computer. 😉

Basic programming skills
Programming skills such as python, R, scala and SQL.
SQL is used to manipulate and access data.
Python is a programming language used for very many functions such as communication with databases. Python is simple and fast, this is the reason why it's preferred.
Python is also used for machine learning.

Learning GitHub
GitHub is the largest host of source code, it is basically a place where you upload your code and people can access it. It is like a linkedin for developers and your code is your CV.

Machine Learning
Machine learning is making a computer learn from studying data. It is used in Artificial intelligence. It is machine learning that is used for predictive purposes.
This means that for machine learning, you need basic knowledge of statistics such as mean, standard deviation, probability, data distribution etc...

Data Visualization
This is the representation of data in visual terms using graphs, pie charts, histograms etc..
Data visualization is important since it helps communicate information faster from just a glimpse. It thus helps reduce the use of words.

Below is a pictorial representation of what I'm talking about.
NB: I might have not mentioned everything, make sure to check on the extra information.

Other things you need to know is basic problem solving skills and project building skills.

Also, read about the life cycle of a data science project.

Wrapping Up
This journey is fun and challenging.
Self motivation is important and remember you are not alone in this.
Remember, no knowledge is bad knowledge. 😁
All the best as you begin something new. 🎉🎉
You've got this!!