Coding for Data Visualization
By Blair Hutchinson
I’m Blair, a Sr. Product Consultant at Tableau Software in Seattle.
After graduating from the University of Vermont with a Business Degree and a concentration in both Finance and Management Information Systems (MIS), I moved back to Seattle where I work full time at Tableau Software. I am also a Assistant Professor at the University of Washington for a Masters Data Visualization class.
Knowing how to use Tableau is one of the most desired skills listed on LinkedIn right now. Do yourself a favor and learn it!
At Tableau, my team and I use software to help people see and understand their data. Tableau Desktop is a tool used for data discovery. It creates visualizations and dashboards to tell a compelling story around a data set. I work as a Sr. Product Consultant helping customers, really anyone with data, use Tableau to its highest potential.
Since Tableau is designed to do the work for our customers, my job does not require 24/7 coding. That being said, having a foundation in SQL, Python and R has really helped me. For example, I’ve recently been using JavaScript because more and more of our customers are embedding Tableau visualizations in websites.
Whether you want to become a developer or an artist, it seems like coders are involved in every department these days.
Computer Science will open many doors for you, just as it has for me. Whether you want to become a developer or an artist, it seems like coders are involved in every department these days. Being able to talk at a high level, or relate to the process has been invaluable to me in my experience. Not to mention, with even a very elementary understanding of Python, you can automate those menial, everyday tasks you do, and stand out among your peers because of it!
What tools and languages do I use?
- Tableau (tool)
- R (programming language and free software environment for statistical computing and graphics)
- Python
- SQL
- JavaScript
- Linux
When Blair’s not schooling people on data visualization, he’s probably busy getting lost in the Cascade mountains climbing and skiing with friends.
