The Real ML Engineering Journey: A Year-Long Adventure in Building from Scratch

Embark on a Year-Long ML Engineering Project: A Journey From Theory to Reality

Feeling that post-course letdown? I know the feeling. After completing several DeepLearning.AI specializations, I realized something crucial was missing: the hands-on experience of building complex ML systems. So, I'm dedicating the next year to a comprehensive ML engineering project—no shortcuts, just real-world engineering.

This isn't your typical "expert-in-three-months" approach. Real expertise takes time and dedicated effort, much like mastering a musical instrument requires consistent practice and overcoming challenges. Building production-ready ML systems involves wrestling with messy data, creating robust and scalable pipelines, integrating modern tools (LangChain, LangGraph), and understanding the "why" behind every decision.

My Medium series will document this journey, offering a behind-the-scenes look at my process. Expect to see:

• Roadblocks and solutions
• "Aha!" moments
• The intersection of theory and practice
• The evolution of my thinking as I blend traditional ML and modern LLMs

I'll be using tools like AWS, GCP, Docker, Apache Airflow, Hugging Face, and Kaggle, demonstrating not just how to use them, but why specific choices are made. This is a learning experience for me, too!

This series will differ from typical ML tutorials by showcasing the challenges, the decision-making process, and acknowledging that "best practices" aren't always universally applicable. I'll share:

• My technology choices and rationale
• The interplay of ML system components
• My evolving understanding as I face new challenges
• My mistakes and the lessons learned

This is a collaborative journey. I'll share my code, thought processes, and challenges, and encourage your participation, perspectives, and ideas. Let's learn and grow together!

Next week, we'll tackle setting up the development environment—a more engaging experience than your average "install these packages" tutorial. Consider this: a year from now, do you want to have completed numerous tutorials or built something substantial showcasing your engineering skills?

A Note on the Series: I'm already several steps ahead. This first post is just the beginning of a thoughtful conversation, not a series of rushed weekly updates.

Let's Connect! Join me on LinkedIn (Vitor Carvalho) to discuss ML engineering, share experiences, and offer guidance. Let's learn from each other!

See you next week!

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