Empiricism
Empiricism is a philosophical and methodological approach that emphasizes knowledge derived from sensory experience and observation, rather than from innate ideas or pure reason. In software development and data science, it underpins practices like evidence-based decision-making, experimentation, and iterative improvement based on measurable outcomes. It is foundational to agile methodologies, scientific computing, and empirical software engineering.
Developers should learn empiricism to adopt data-driven approaches in building and refining software, such as using A/B testing to optimize user interfaces, analyzing performance metrics to guide system improvements, or applying statistical methods in machine learning. It is crucial in contexts requiring validation of hypotheses, like DevOps for monitoring system reliability, or in research-oriented fields where experimental results inform development.