[vector_spaces]

A surprisingly vast contingent of software developers do not know SQL, let alone know it very well. And as others have mentioned in this thread, data science looks differently at different companies.

For many, the math and "ML-specific stuff" ends up being a very small part of the process. For them, data quality and data cleaning take up the overwhelming majority of hours in a given project, and SQL chops will take you much farther in that kind of an environment.

Plus SQL is not going anywhere anytime soon. So worst case scenario, OP will learn a skill that's not likely to be dated in a few more tics of the hype cycle.

[disgruntledphd2]

I think you're both right.

I find it hard to imagine successful data scientists who don't know SQL.

OTOH, I find it hard to imagine (even though I've met some) successful data scientists who only know SQL.

I suppose it's necessary but not sufficient.

[te_chris]

I don’t think it’s that surprising. Most web dev is just doing mundane CRUD, and mostly through ORMs or other db abstractions. If you don’t practice something how can you be expected to be good at it?