Chapter 5. Spark Streaming

All of us have been there. We go on to a new e-commerce website where we haven't bought anything before, like a new gadget, and decide to purchase it. As soon as we hit the checkout button, within a couple of seconds we get a message on our mobile phone from the credit card company asking if it was really us who was making the purchase. Let this sink in for a moment... The company has captured the transaction, realized it is not a usual transaction (some outlier detection mechanism), and made a call within a span of a few seconds.

It's a connected world out there, and streaming has become part and parcel of our digital life whether it is fraud detection, optimum ad placement, website monitoring, or self-driving cars. Sensors rule the roost, and pick up every bit of information you can possibly imagine ranging from the temperature fluctuations of your car's engine to your personal heart beat every second. The abundance of sensors has led...