Data Organisation: Ensuring data quality in backend systems
Tags: backend, data, database, performance
Published: 2024-07-02 13:46:57

When it comes to backend development, one of the biggest challenges we face is managing the issues that arise from disorganized data. In the world of backend development, data is king. It's the fuel that powers our applications, providing the information that drives the user experience. This data before it becomes the quality output our users can easily interact with must be carefully handled.
One of the main roles of a backend developer is data processing which involves building and maintaining the mechanisms that process data and perform actions on websites. 
**Challenge**: Ensuring data quality in backend systems. Disorganized data, characterized by inconsistencies, missing values, and incorrect formats, can significantly impact application performance and user experience.

## What is back-end development?
Back-end development means working on server-side software, which focuses on everything you can’t see on a website page. This work is done by backend developers who use code that helps browsers or any other application communicate with servers (computers or software programs/applications that provide services or resources to other computers or applications) or/and with databases(organized collection of data).
## The Importance of Data Quality
Poorly organized and inconsistent data can lead to a cascade of problems:
- **Bugs and Errors**: Inconsistent data can cause unexpected errors and crashes in applications, leading to a bad user experience.
- **Inaccurate Insights**: If data is unreliable, the insights we derive from it will also be unreliable.
- **Security Risks**: Unstructured data can create vulnerabilities, making systems more susceptible to security breaches.
- **Wasted Time and Resources**: Cleaning and organizing data takes time and resources. You solve problems that you wouldn't have to solve if your data were organized.
- **Poor Performance**: Disorganized data can degrade application performance, resulting in a negative user experience.

Investing in data organization provides numerous benefits:
- **Improved Application Performance**: Clean and well-organized data leads to faster and more efficient data processing, resulting in a smoother user experience.
- **Enhanced Data Accuracy**: Data validation and cleaning ensure data accuracy, leading to more reliable insights.
- **Increased Security**: Organized data makes it easier to implement security measures and protect sensitive information.
- **Reduced Development Costs**: By eliminating data-related issues, you can reduce development time and costs associated with debugging and fixing errors.

## Ensuring data quality with well-organized data?
Maintaining well-organized data is one of the keys to ensuring high data quality in backend systems. One of the most used tools to organize and store your data is a **database management system** (**DBMS**). The are many DBMSs out there each with its pros and cons to have more info you can read this [DBMS comparison article]("https://www.altexsoft.com/blog/comparing-database-management-systems-mysql-postgresql-mssql-server-mongodb-elasticsearch-and-others/"). 
Here are some tips to well organizing your data  for ensuring data quality in backend system:
- **Data Normalization**: Use database normalization techniques to reduce data redundancy and improve data consistency. To have more info you can read this [data normalization blog]("https://www.splunk.com/en_us/blog/learn/data-normalization.html")
- **Efficient Data Storage**: Use appropriate database management systems (DBMS) according to your needs.
- **Data Validation**: Implement validation rules to enforce data integrity. This includes type checking, range checks, and format validation.
- **Data Cleaning**: Develop routines to identify and correct errors in data, such as missing values, duplicate entries, and inconsistent formats.
- **Data Transformation**: Convert data into a format that is suitable for your specific application and use case.
- **Data Governance**: Establish clear policies and procedures for data management, including access control, data retention, and data security.

## My first Experience with backend development
For my final year project in computer science, I chose to learn Python and Django, a web development framework for backend applications. I started learning these new technologies six months before the deadline while also taking my degree courses. This self-learning helped me complete my project in three months. I faced many challenges, one of them was transforming facts and problems into computerized and organized data accessible through digital technologies, such as websites, as this was my first practical project. My final year project, an attendance management system, required research and practice. I overcame these difficulties by reading articles and books, following tutorials, and engaging in practical projects and exercises.

## Expectations for HNG Internship
As a participant in the HNG internship program, I'm looking forward to improving my backend development skills, collaborating with skilled developers, and contributing to exciting projects. This internship provides a valuable platform to assimilate industry best practices from seasoned professionals and apply them to practical projects. I'm looking forward to working with you and creating innovative solutions together.

If you’re interested in learning more about the HNG Internship, check out these links:
- [HNG Internship]("https://hng.tech/internship")
- [HNG Hire]("https://hng.tech/hire")

That's a wrap!; we've come to the end. There's so much more, but we've covered the essential key points about ensuring data quality. It's up to you to continue your research. If you have any questions or suggestions feel free to drop a comment below. We're all in this together to learn and grow!

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