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    Home » Inheritance: A Software Engineering Concept Data Scientists Must Know To Succeed
    Artificial Intelligence

    Inheritance: A Software Engineering Concept Data Scientists Must Know To Succeed

    ProfitlyAIBy ProfitlyAIMay 22, 2025No Comments13 Mins Read
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    it’s best to learn this text

    In case you are planning to enter information science, be it a graduate or an expert in search of a profession change, or a supervisor answerable for establishing greatest practices, this text is for you.

    Knowledge science attracts a wide range of completely different backgrounds. From my skilled expertise, I’ve labored with colleagues who had been as soon as:

    • Nuclear Physicists
    • Submit-docs researching Gravitational Waves
    • PhDs in Computational Biology
    • Linguists

    simply to call a couple of.

    It’s fantastic to have the ability to meet such a various set of backgrounds and I’ve seen such a wide range of minds result in the expansion of a artistic and efficient Knowledge Science operate.

    Nonetheless, I’ve additionally seen one large draw back to this selection:

    Everybody has had completely different ranges of publicity to key Software program Engineering ideas, leading to a patchwork of coding expertise.

    Consequently, I’ve seen work executed by some information scientists that’s sensible, however is:

    • Unreadable — you haven’t any concept what they’re attempting to do.
    • Flaky — it breaks the second another person tries to run it.
    • Unmaintainable — code rapidly turns into out of date or breaks simply.
    • Un-extensible — code is single-use and its behaviour can’t be prolonged.

    Which finally dampens the impression their work can have and creates all types of points down the road.

    Photograph by Shekai on Unsplash

    So, in a collection of articles, I plan to stipulate some core software program engineering ideas that I’ve tailor-made to be requirements for information scientists.

    They’re easy ideas, however the distinction between figuring out them vs not figuring out them clearly attracts the road between newbie {and professional}.

    Right this moment’s Idea: Inheritance

    Inheritance is key to writing clear, reusable code that improves your effectivity and work productiveness. It will also be used to standardise the way in which a crew writes code which boosts readability and maintainability.

    Trying again at how troublesome it was to be taught these ideas after I was first studying to code, I’m not going to begin off with an summary, excessive degree definition that gives no worth to you at this stage. There’s lots within the web you’ll be able to google if you would like this.

    As an alternative, let’s check out a real-life instance of an information science mission.

    We’ll define the sort of sensible issues an information scientist may run into, see what inheritance is, and the way it may also help an information scientist write higher code.

    And by higher we imply:

    • Code that’s simpler to learn.
    • Code that’s simpler to take care of.
    • Code that’s simpler to re-use.

    Instance: Ingesting information from a number of completely different sources

    Photograph by John Schnobrich on Unsplash

    Probably the most tedious and time consuming a part of an information scientist’s job is determining the place to get information, tips on how to learn it, tips on how to clear it, and the way to reserve it.

    Let’s say you could have labels supplied in CSV recordsdata submitted from 5 completely different exterior sources, every with their very own distinctive schema.

    Your process is to scrub every one in every of them and output them as a parquet file, and for this file to be suitable with downstream processes, they have to conform to a schema:

    • label_id : Integer
    • label_value : Integer
    • label_timestamp : String timestamp in ISO format.

    The Fast & Soiled Method

    On this case, the fast and soiled strategy could be to jot down a separate script for every file.

    # clean_source1.py
    
    import polars as pl
    
    if __name__ == '__main__':
    
        df = pl.scan_csv('source1.csv')
        overall_label_value = df.group_by('some-metadata1').agg(
            overall_label_value=pl.col('some-metadata2').or_().over('some-metadata2')
        ) 
    
        df = df.drop(['some-metadata1', 'some-metadata2', 'some-metadata3'], axis=1)
    
        df = df.be part of(overall_label_value, on='some-metadata4')
    
        df = df.choose(
    
            pl.col('primary_key').alias('label_id'),
    
            pl.col('overall_label_value').alias('label_value').exchange([True, False], [1, 0]),
            pl.col('some-metadata6').alias('label_timestamp'),
    
        )
    
    df.to_parquet('output/source1.parquet')

    and every script could be distinctive.

    So what’s fallacious with this? It will get the job executed proper?

    Let’s return to our criterion for good code and consider why this one is unhealthy:

    1. It’s exhausting to learn

    There’s no organisation or construction to the code.

    All of the logic for loading, cleansing, and saving is all in the identical place, so it’s troublesome to see the place the road is between every step.

    Bear in mind, it is a contrived, easy instance. In the true world, the code you’d write could be for much longer and sophisticated.

    When you could have exhausting to learn code, and 5 completely different variations of it, it results in long run issues:

    2. It’s exhausting to take care of

    The dearth of construction makes it exhausting so as to add new options or repair bugs. If the logic needed to be modified, all the script will seemingly must be overhauled.

    If there was a standard operation that wanted to be utilized to all outputs, then somebody must go and modify all 5 scripts individually.

    Every time, they should decipher the aim of strains and contours of code. As a result of there’s no clear distinction between

    • the place information is loaded,
    • the place information is used,
    • which variables are depending on downstream operations,

    it turns into exhausting to know whether or not the modifications you make can have any unknown impression on downstream code, or violates some upstream assumption.

    In the end, it turns into very straightforward for bugs to creep in.

    3. It’s exhausting to re-use

    This code is the definition of a one-off.

    It’s exhausting to learn, you don’t know what’s taking place the place until you make investments loads of time to be sure to perceive each line of code.

    If somebody wished to reuse logic from it, the one possibility they might have is to copy-paste the entire script and modify it, or rewrite their very own from scratch.

    There are higher, extra environment friendly methods of writing code.

    The Higher, Skilled Method

    Now, let’s take a look at how we will enhance our scenario by utilizing inheritance.

    Photograph by Kelly Sikkema on Unsplash

    1. Determine the commonalities

    In our instance, each information supply is exclusive. We all know that every file would require:

    • A number of cleansing steps
    • A saving step, which we already know all recordsdata will probably be saved right into a single parquet file.

    We additionally know every file wants to evolve to the identical schema, so greatest we now have some validation of the output information.

    So these commonalities will inform us what functionalities we may write as soon as, after which reuse them.

    2. Create a base class

    Now comes the inheritance half.

    We write a base class, or mother or father class, which implements the logic for dealing with the commonalities we recognized above. This class will grow to be the template from which different lessons will ‘inherit’.

    Lessons which inherit from this class (known as baby lessons) can have the identical performance because the mother or father class, however will even be capable of add new performance, or change those which might be already obtainable.

    import polars as pl
    
    
    class BaseCSVLabelProcessor:
    
        REQUIRED_OUTPUT_SCHEMA = {
            "label_id": pl.Int64,
            "label_value": pl.Int64,
            "label_timestamp": pl.Datetime
        }
    
        def __init__(self, input_file_path, output_file_path):
            self.input_file_path = input_file_path
            self.output_file_path = output_file_path
    
        def load(self):
            """Load the info from the file."""
            return pl.scan_csv(self.input_file_path)
    
        def clear(self, information:pl.LazyFrame):
            """Clear the enter information"""
            ...
    
        def save(self, information:pl.LazyFrame): 
            """Save the info to parquet file."""
            information.sink_parquet(self.output_file_path)
    
        def validate_schema(self, information:pl.LazyFrame):
            """
            Test that the info conforms to the anticipated schema.
            """
            for colname, expected_dtype in self.REQUIRED_OUTPUT_SCHEMA.gadgets():
                actual_dtype = information.schema.get(colname)
                
                if actual_dtype is None:
                    elevate ValueError(f"Column {colname} not present in information")
    
                if actual_dtype != expected_dtype:
                    elevate ValueError(
                        f"Column {colname} has incorrect sort. Anticipated {expected_dtype}, bought {actual_dtype}"
                    )
    
        def run(self):
            """Run information processing on the required file."""
            information = self.load()
            information = self.clear(information)
            self.validate_schema(information)
            self.save(information)

    3. Outline baby lessons

    Now we outline the kid lessons:

    class Source1LabelProcessor(BaseCSVLabelProcessor):
        def clear(self, information:pl.LazyFrame):
            # bespoke logic for supply 1
            ...
    
    class Source2LabelProcessor(BaseCSVLabelProcessor):
        def clear(self, information:pl.LazyFrame):
            # bespoke logic for supply 2
            ...
    
    class Source3LabelProcessor(BaseCSVLabelProcessor):
        def clear(self, information:pl.LazyFrame):
            # bespoke logic for supply 3
            ...

    Since all of the widespread logic is already applied within the mother or father class, all of the baby class must be involved of is the bespoke logic that’s distinctive to every file.

    So the code we wrote for the unhealthy instance can now be became:

    from <someplace> import BaseCSVLabelProcessor
    
    class Source1LabelProcessor(BaseCSVLabelProcessor):
        def get_overall_label_value(self, information:pl.LazyFrame):
            """Get general label worth."""
            return information.with_column(pl.col('some-metadata2').or_().over('some-metadata1'))
    
        def conform_to_output_schema(self, information:pl.LazyFrame):
            """Drop pointless columns and confrom required columns to output schema."""
            information = information.drop(['some-metadata1', 'some-metadata2', 'some-metadata3'], axis=1)
    
            information = information.choose(
                pl.col('primary_key').alias('label_id'),
                pl.col('some-metadata5').alias('label_value').exchange([True, False], [1, 0]),
                pl.col('some-metadata6').alias('label_timestamp'),
            )
    
            return information
    
        def clear(self, information:pl.LazyFrame) -> pl.DataFrame:
            """Clear label information from Supply 1.
            
            The next steps are obligatory to scrub the info:
            
            1. <some purpose as to why we have to group by 'some-metadata1'>
            2. <some purpose for becoming a member of 'overall_label_value' to the dataframe>
            3. Renaming columns and information sorts to confrom to the anticipated output schema.
            """
            overall_label_value = self.get_overall_label_value(information)
            df = df.be part of(overall_label_value, on='some-metadata4')
            df = self.conform_to_output_schema(df)
            return df

    and with a view to run our code, we will do it in a centralised location:

    # label_preparation_pipeline.py
    from <someplace> import Source1LabelProcessor, Source2LabelProcessor, Source3LabelProcessor
    
    
    INPUT_FILEPATHS = {
        'source1': '/path/to/file1.csv',
        'source2': '/path/to/file2.csv',
        'source3': '/path/to/file3.csv',
    }
    
    OUTPUT_FILEPATH = '/path/to/output.parquet'
    
    def most important():
        """Label processing pipeline.
    
        The label processing pipeline ingests information sources 1, 2, 3 that are from 
        exterior distributors <blah>. 
    
        The output is written to a parquet file, prepared for ingestion by <downstream-process>.
        
        The code assumes the next:
        - <assumptions>
    
        The consumer must specify the next inputs:
        - <particulars on the enter config>
        """
        processors = [
            Source1LabelProcessor(FILEPATHS['source1'], OUTPUT_FILEPATH),
            Source2LabelProcessor(FILEPATHS['source2'], OUTPUT_FILEPATH),
            Source3LabelProcessor(FILEPATHS['source3'], OUTPUT_FILEPATH)
        ]
    
        for processor in processors:
            processor.run()

    Why is that this higher?

    1. Good encapsulation

    You shouldn’t need to look below the hood to know tips on how to drive a automobile.

    Any colleague who must re-run this code will solely must run the most important() operate. You’d have supplied ample docstrings within the respective features to elucidate what they do and tips on how to use them.

    However they don’t must know the way each single line of code works.

    They need to be capable of belief your work and run it. Solely when they should repair a bug or prolong its performance will they should go deeper.

    That is known as encapsulation — strategically hiding the implementation particulars from the consumer. It’s one other programming idea that’s important for writing good code.

    Photograph by Dan Crile on Unsplash

    In a nutshell, it needs to be ample for the reader to depend on the docstrings to grasp what the code does and tips on how to use it.

    How typically do you go into the scikit-learn supply code to discover ways to use their fashions? You by no means do. scikit-learn is a perfect instance of fine Coding design by means of encapsulation.

    I’ve already written an article devoted to encapsulation here, so if you wish to know extra, test it out.

    2. Higher extensibility

    What if the label outputs now needed to change? For instance, downstream processes that ingest the labels now require them to be saved in a SQL desk.

    Properly, it turns into quite simple to do that – we merely want to change the save technique within the BaseCSVLabelProcessor class, after which all the baby lessons will inherit this variation mechanically.

    What if you happen to discover an incompatibility between the label outputs and a few course of downstream? Maybe a brand new column is required?

    Properly, you would want to vary the respective clear strategies to account for this. However, you may as well prolong the checks within the validate technique within the BaseCSVLabelProcessor class to account for this new requirement.

    You may even take this one step additional and add many extra checks to all the time be sure the outputs are as anticipated – you could even wish to outline a separate validation module for doing this, and plug them into the validate technique.

    You may see how extending the behaviour of our label processing code turns into quite simple.

    Compared, if the code lived in separate bespoke scripts, you’ll be copy and pasting these checks time and again. Even worse, perhaps every file requires some bespoke implementation. This implies the identical downside must be solved 5 occasions, when it could possibly be solved correctly simply as soon as.

    It’s rework, its inefficiency, it’s wasted sources and time.

    Ultimate Remarks

    So, on this article, we’ve lined how the usage of inheritance drastically enhances the standard of our codebase.

    By appropriately making use of inheritance, we’re capable of resolve widespread issues throughout completely different duties, and we’ve seen first hand how this results in:

    • Code that’s simpler to learn — Readability
    • Code that’s simpler to debug and preserve — Maintainability
    • Code that’s simpler so as to add and prolong performance — Extensibility

    Nonetheless, some readers will nonetheless be sceptical of the necessity to write code like this.

    Maybe they’ve been writing one-off scripts for his or her whole profession, and all the things has been tremendous to date. Why trouble writing code in a extra difficult means?

    Photograph by Towfiqu barbhuiya on Unsplash

    Properly, that’s an excellent query — and there’s a very clear purpose why it’s obligatory.

    Up till very not too long ago, Data Science has been a brand new, area of interest business the place proof-of-concepts and analysis was the primary focus of labor. Coding requirements didn’t matter then, so long as we bought one thing out by means of the doorways and it labored.

    However information science is quick approaching maturity, the place it’s now not sufficient to only construct fashions.

    We now have to take care of, repair, debug, and retrain not solely fashions, but additionally all the processes required to create the mannequin – for so long as they’re used.

    That is the truth that information science must face — constructing fashions is the straightforward half while sustaining what we now have constructed is the exhausting half.

    In the meantime, software program engineering has been doing this for many years, and has by means of trial and error constructed up all the perfect practices we mentioned at the moment in order that the code that they construct are straightforward to take care of.

    Subsequently, information scientists might want to know these greatest practices going forwards.

    Those that know this may inevitably be in comparison with those that don’t.



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