Introduction

“The information that’s stored in our databases and spreadsheets cannot speak for itself. It has important stories to tell and only we can give them a voice.” —Stephen Few

Hello, and welcome to the world of Big Data! We are your authors, Arshad Ali and Manpreet Singh. For us, it’s a good sign that you’re actually reading this introduction (so few readers of tech books do, in our experiences). Perhaps your first question is, “What’s in it for me?” We are here to give you those details with minimal fuss.

Never has there been a more exciting time in the world of data. We are seeing the convergence of significant trends that are fundamentally transforming the industry and ushering in a new era of technological innovation in areas such ...

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