Data Just Right: Introduction to Large-Scale Data & Analytics

Description

The array of tools for collecting, storing, and gaining insight from data is huge and getting bigger every day. For people entering the field, that means digging through hundreds of Web sites and dozens of books to get the basics of working with data at scale. That’s why this book is a great addition to the Addison-Wesley Data & Analytics series; it provides a broad overview of tools, techniques, and helpful tips for building large data analysis systems. Michael is the perfect author to provide this introduction to Big Data analytics. He worked on the Cloud Platform Developer Relations team at Google, helping develop-ers with BigQuery, Google’s hosted platform for analyzing terabytes of data quickly. He brings his breadth of experience to this book, providing practical guidance for anyone looking to start working with Big Data or anyone looking for additional tips, tricks, and tools. The introductory chapters start with guidelines for success with Big Data systems and introductions to NoSQL, distributed computing, and the CAP theorem. An intro-duction to analytics at scale using Hadoop and Hive is followed by coverage of real-time analytics with BigQuery. More advanced topics include MapReduce pipelines, Pig and Cascading, and machine learning with Mahout. Finally, you’ll see examples of how to blend Python and R into a working Big Data tool chain. Throughout all of this material are examples that help you work with and learn the tools. All of this combines to create a perfect book to read for picking up a broad understanding of Big Data analytics. —Paul Dix, Series Editor