Chapter 1. Big Data and Data Science – An Introduction
Big data is definitely a big deal! It promises a wealth of opportunities by deriving hidden insights in huge data silos and by opening new avenues to excel in business. Leveraging big data through advanced analytics techniques has become a no-brainer for organizations to create and maintain their competitive advantage.
This chapter explains what big data is all about, the various challenges with big data analysis and how Apache Spark pitches in as the de facto standard to address computational challenges and also serves as a data science platform.
The topics covered in this chapter are as follows:
- Big data overview - what is all the fuss about?
- Challenges with big data analytics - why was it so difficult?
- Evolution of big data analytics - the data analytics trend
- Spark for data analytics - the solution to big data challenges
- The Spark stack - all that makes it up for a complete big data solution
