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 ...

Get Spark for Data Science now with the O’Reilly learning platform.

O’Reilly members experience books, live events, courses curated by job role, and more from O’Reilly and nearly 200 top publishers.