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In this episode I speak with Abdoul Madjid about his journey to R.
You may think of R as a tool for complex statistical analysis, but it's much more than that. From data visualization to efficient reporting, to improving your workflow, R can do it all. On this podcast, I talk with people about how they use R in unique and creative ways.
Hi. I'm David Keyes, and I run R for the rest of us. You may think of R as a tool for complex statistical analysis, but it's much more than that. From data visualization to efficient reporting to improving your workflow, R can do it all. On this podcast, I talk with people about how they use R in unique and creative ways.
David Keyes:Join me and learn how R can help you. I'm joined today by Abdul Majid. Abdul is a full stack developer who works for First Echo. That's a smart business integration company based in France. He writes code in R and Python that helps summarize news for their clients.
David Keyes:And on the side, he does some amazing data visualization in R, including making some fantastic looking maps, which is what we're gonna talk about today. So, Abdul, welcome. Thanks for joining me. And maybe if we could just have you start out by giving us a bit about your background. When did you start using R to begin with?
Abdoul Madjid:So thanks, David. Thanks for and hi, everyone listening. So me, Abdul Sabida, I will be 27 next week. From Benin, a small country next to Nigeria in West Africa. So I'm currently in France since, 2015.
Abdoul Madjid:I was, you know, there to further my education, but I I I had been working fully since, November 2020 after graduating in computer science with specialization in artificial intelligence and databases. So but how I I become an air developer? I need to go to when and where I started, coding. I started coding relatively late at 13 after high school. After high school, it was during during my freshman year, my freshman year in college.
Abdoul Madjid:And before to come in France and completely restart, college, I had been in on school in my country. It it was a 5 year program, but I didn't follow the 5 year. I stayed for 2 and a half year before going abroad. So that, we we take, various engineering classes, mechanical, electrical, and many others, among those courses. We had initiation courses to, algorithm and, programming.
Abdoul Madjid:So then my first programming language that I learned were was Fortran, a very hard programming language. So in the following following years, still in Africa, I learn I had insertion to c, c plus plus, Java, JavaScript. So in France, I had, more complete and advanced courses to Java, JavaScript, c, c plus plus, c sharp, dot net, Python, and many other courses. So when did my journey start? So it was during my 4th my 4th year of college.
Abdoul Madjid:We had an an initiation classes to artificial intelligence. So it wasn't, air and tradition classes, but, teach its the class consist of theoretical classes followed by a practical classes where the teacher shared a boilerplate code that we follow. So I didn't really receive an receive an conversional introduction to air. The following year during my last year of college, I had a project tutored by lecturer where the goal was to, 1, 1, find and open access databases related to food. 2, analysis versus data.
Abdoul Madjid:And 3, the more important, make some data visualization with vast data, and all that using Jupyter Notebook. So has I had to use Jupyter notebook. I was it conscribe it to it's it conscribe to use Julia, Python, or Air. So I I for the project, I basically used the Python because I learned Python, couple months before. But I have I had made the free, for data visualization using BaseAir.
Abdoul Madjid:It wasn't amazing graphics, but I was nevertheless, satisfied we were with it. As far as I remember, they were my first home that I visual visualization with with Air. So after this period, I take a little break with air with air particularly and learning new stuff generally because, I had during summer 2020, I had my internship for my last year of college, and after that, I had to look for a job. So after graduating and has my interest for data visualization and amazing graph graphic was still there. I was still there.
Abdoul Madjid:I started following people who share content on Twitter. It is people like, Owen Phillips, Georgios Karmanis, Cedric Shearer, Andrew Ice, Klaus Wake, and main hover. It is how my my journal we've has started. And has, I me too, I want to produce that kind of stuff. I learn more methodically more methodically ecosystems, it was using through resources like, for data science book down.
Abdoul Madjid:So it is how I got I got into that world. So it is how my journey started.
David Keyes:Great. So it seems like well, first of all, I was laughing when you said that you started programming late because you said you started at 17. I started at
Abdoul Madjid:30 10 10 year ago.
David Keyes:I started at 35, so 17 seems really early to me. But but so it so you really are a full stack developer insofar as you use, you you you know a ton of different languages. Yeah. So if I understood correctly, it seems like you learned all these other languages. But really when it came to the data visualization, you saw a lot of people all the people you mentioned who were doing work in R and making really nice data vis, and so you wanted to use R for that.
David Keyes:Is that is that accurate? Is that what R was that was it the data vis that really inspired you? Yes. Yes. Cool.
David Keyes:So today, I know in your job, you use correct me if I'm wrong, but I think you use a combination of r and pipe. I'm curious when do you still go to r if you wanna do data visualization, or how do you choose between the 2 when you're deciding kind of
Abdoul Madjid:how much language to use? I essentially use Python and interpret f for data scraping on the, different kind of website. But the two language I use are Java and Angular. Okay. Python and, I use them essentially for data scraping.
David Keyes:Okay. And then if I remember correctly from because we have spoken previously, you told me that you pretty much just on the side make data visualizations using r. Is that right? You just do that for Yes. For fun, essentially?
David Keyes:Yes. Okay. When was the first time because you the re the way I found your work initially was through TidyTuesday. When did you start doing TidyTuesday? Do you remember?
Abdoul Madjid:It was it was 1 year ago. It was in May 2021. Okay.
David Keyes:And it sounds like it was inspired by the other people that you saw doing it. What in what ways has doing tidy Tuesday helped you in terms of your ability to produce data visualizations?
Abdoul Madjid:Well, we diversity of diversity of data that every week by, Thomas Mark. We we we are in the obligation to to use all the tools that the tidy tidyverse ecosystem offer to to this data and to try to produce database. So that it is it is a little bit challenging to every week to try to to logical from the data to try to makes a database. So it is it is always challenging to do her her best to try to mix a database from best data.
David Keyes:Yeah. Yeah. And just out of curiosity, like, I I don't know Python, but I know people make data visualization in Python. Is there any reason why when you're working on your own, is it just seeing that other people are doing things in r that led you to want to do that? Or, like, what I guess why I'm wondering why you don't do your database in Python and why you should use RSN.
Abdoul Madjid:I will say that it is less tedious to make data with because of a tidy vertical system that offer almost all the toll we need to make that kind the to to make to make a virus data database. With Python, it's a little bit more complicated to make data data, like, in my own opinion. So Yeah. For make data, personally, I prefer to make that with. But for kind for things like data scraping, I think that Python is a little bit has a little bit more option than than f for data for web scraping, data scraping, and tool like that.
Abdoul Madjid:But for data, I think that air is the best tool for that kind of thing.
David Keyes:Well, thank you, Abdul, so much for spending time with me today.
Abdoul Madjid:Thank you, and thank you for receiving me.
David Keyes:Thanks again for listening. I hope you found this conversation interesting. If you have any feedback, I'd love to hear it. David@rfortherestofus.com.
Abdoul Madjid:Thanks.