Big Data For Dummies

Don't let the title fool you - this book is not for dummies. I was looking for a book with a little more explanation as to different big data architectures, and this book delivers. The author clearly describes the subprojects of Hadoop and various noSQL databases, highlighting their main differences and use cases. Anyone in BI and information management should add this to their library. Cindi Howson, BI Scorecard, and author, Successful Business Intelligence: Unlock the Value of BI & Big Data, Second Edition

A great primer and reference for Hadoop and Big Data beginners. Not a programming or configuration reference, but you will learn how traditional and modern data systems have come about, and how they are used. A great way to get up to speed on the modern jargon surrounding Big Data, plus you get enough context that you will figure out what book (if any) you need to read next for your needs.

My Engineering department constantly talks about Hadoop, Sqoop, Pig and Hive, and I was afraid that the zookeeper they referred to was somehow a real thing. So, I bought Big Data for Dummies. If you are brand new to the world of big data, the book will be a decent resource. You'll get the bulk of the buzzwords, a fair bit of general information, and some useful things to consider as part of the implementation process (where as a business leader, I needed to learn something) in the book. Sections of it are written for folks who may have a bit stronger engineering background than my one FORTRAN class 20 years ago, and these sections are pretty tough to comprehend. I wish it had more general business elements, and the sections that deal with the problems and challenges of big data (Parts 5-7) are probably the most useful to the business generalist. If they could plus these up in the next edition, it would be great. However, if you are looking for a quick read to get a general idea of what this is all about, it's an OK book - probably 3.5 stars, candidly...

Dummies are always helpful, and although I've got a couple of good books on Big Data, this is an excellent overview of the topic. I especially liked the do's and don't. These authors are first rate practitioners of the trade. It's a good overview of the topice

As Dummy books go this was a fare into to big data. If you are serious about the topic, try something else

One of the best introductions to big data that I could find. Easy read.

I am just finishing my read of this and Judith Hurwitz and team should be commended for the very practical and comprehensive coverage of the inner workings on BD, the commercially available products and the functions and concepts in this space. In looking at the other reviews, you know that this is a great book for a nominal price. Highly recommended as a place to start as you start your journey in BD.

This 1-star review refers only to the Kindle formatting. If you plan to read this on a Kindle, you may wish to reconsider. The formatting is horrible and there are NO GRAPHIC FIGURES. So when the text says "we’d like you to notice that on either side of the diagram" (Kindle Location 586) it's pretty maddening. I looked at this on Kindle for Mac, Kindle for iPad and native Paperwhite Kindle. The bad formatting and absence of figures is consistent on all 3 disparate platforms, so I'm pretty sure the issue is how the file was rendered for Kindle overall. The information through might well be very good in the print book, but I only got as far as chapter 1 on Kindle due to the missing diagrams. Update: I purchased this book because Amazon showed a publish date of April 17th, 2018. I figured a one-month old edition shoudl be a pretty good place to start in on a broad overview of this topic. However, this edition was actually published in 2013. A five-year-old book on any computing subject is not worth the time it takes to read it. This may have been a great book when it was released, but even the best books on a rapidly changing landscape like Big Data have a limited shelf-life.