Nowadays, digital data is everywhere: cellphones, computers, Internet, satellites, credit card payments, and so on. Data is flowing constantly around us. So, the question is: How can someone manage and process such a heterogeneous, complex, and vast amount of data in order to extract useful information and eventually generate intelligence? The response is big data computing. The next question: Is there any “bible” for understanding the whole spectrum of principles and technologies behind big data? This book is the response.

Here, the author first introduces the basic concepts of computer-based decision making, model-driven analysis, and data-driven analysis. The second big section of the book describes the foundations of big data: database systems, data mining, machine learning, and distributed systems (for example, cloud systems). After that, the tools, techniques, and technologies of big data are comprehensively addressed (for example, Google MapReduce, Apache Hadoop, Amazon Dynamo, Spark). Top programming languages are also reviewed (for example, Python, Clojure, Scala, R). The next big section deals with specific scenarios where big data technology plays a key role: web-based applications, social media, mobile applications, location-based systems, and context-aware applications. A more-than-interesting epilogue closes the book: “Internet of Things.”

This volume constitutes a must-have reference in the library or bookshelf of any business manager or information technology (IT) specialist. But even computer science (CS) researchers and CS students should consider this volume as a must-read reference. While the book advances, it becomes more technical, so business managers will feel more comfortable in the first chapters. Technology managers will review concepts in the first chapters and will learn new techniques after the second part of the book. Finally, for IT specialists, it is a must-have reference for checking or remembering concepts and technologies in their everyday tasks. In any case, the reader will find a smooth transition from one chapter to another.

Another advantage of this volume is that it includes numerous figures, tables, remarks, and itemized lists, which make the reading very fluid. The key concepts are easy to identify and remember.

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