Tags

, , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Thought I’d post this in a broader arena for others who might also be in turmoil as a newbie to Big Data (Data Analytics) Engineering. 

Recently, I was asked to share some advice and insight due to an individual being overwhelmed in starting their own journey to learn Big Data (just like any other huge spaces), causing the person to be a bit confused. But the KEY thing is – he had the guts to ask…  which I hugely applaud him in reaching out to me.

(Asked me, a newbie to Big Data myself. But since no one responded to me [in the various Big Data groups I had joined] with any kind of constructive info and advice, I took it upon myself to do my own groundbreaking and research and offer up advice to others in my shoes [AND the person who originally asked me for advice], even though I have limited time.)

This is likely because of my expansive career in IT (and I’ve done a lot over the years in: routers, firewalls, AWS Cloud [and now moving into AWS Big Data once I find a spot in my area close to home], Azure, Cybersecurity, InfoSec, mainframes, SEIMs, voice & data communication; including learning SQL, Python, Docker, Tableau and even in the past –> mainframe assembler, COBOL, Fortran, C++ and Pascal and esoterically, even learning to Read/Speak/Write ===>> Chinese, Russian, Arabic & Japanese — the only exceptions of IT I never seemed to get into has been: Active Directory, Sharepoint and Cryptography)

My response:

No, not a problem.  There is a LOT to be overwhelmed about, just have to keep trucking – always move forward… even when frustrated. 

Like me, yesterday. One of my Docker courses had some bad info and I had to do a lot of troubleshooting (Spyder & Flask) to get it figured out. Turned out to be the VPN, which is odd. 

There are a lot of cubby holes, corners, niches and whatnot to look in for knowledge. And when you look into them, they lead you to yet more areas of valuable content.  You will have to determine how far you want to go in gaining knowledge. You HAVE to remain focused and get back on track, not escalate in spiraling down ANY rabbit hole….

I tend to stroll and cast a wide net, because even some of the small pieces of knowledge pay dividends at the most unexpected times.   Then too, it can be a wide net at times because when I try to focus narrowly, the net still ends up spreading (go look up quantum entanglement and/or superpositioning).  But note, there are a multiplicity of tools you need awareness of & learn the basics of (and NOT a complete list by any means):

— Scala (which I’m cramming in right now, Sept 2021)

— Python (another for which I’m cramming in right now, Sept 2021)

— Tableau (AND this one too that I’m cramming in right now, Sept 2021)

— SQL (which I’m jumping as I can make time)

— Kubernetes & Containers

— Anaconda & Spyder

— AWS if you can – they offer a lot of free content for courses

— Azure – Microsoft also offers free content

— Google does as well

— I had not mentioned other items like Linux/Unix and PowerShell…. if I did, I would be listing tools left and right and turning this little paper into a tome of knowledge…

Different IDEs used in various course because each instructor has a favorite version (you should know the basics of each of them):

— Microsoft Visual Studio Code (the free version)

— Atom   

— Spyder (above)

Some of the Big Data material you can learn through Udemy, ACloudGuru, CloudAcademy, SDSClub but you’ll have to pay for it (I chose to pay annual subscriptions several years ago for some of them and they have paid off in very good dividends).

Then there is YouTube, which has good and bad. But you can still glean some useful content from the bad if you pay attention & pick it out – be patient with all the different accents, if you haven’t already.

Some material you can get through Amazon Kindle (eBooks) – $3 each if you have an Amazon account.  This allows you to read material when you have time here and there in different locations.

Take it in chunks.

Me, I do a lot of chunks, close to burn out but there is a lot of material to cover, so, I keep pushing – you should too!!!  I’ve been fortunate to have a fairly decent memory, fast reader and a broad computer foundation helps me more than others. BUT! If you are a newbie to Big Data, you may have to do as I do. I am committed whole-heartedly full-time, before and after work and on weekends (since I work with AWS Cloud Architect and Strategy and do not work with Big Data)… And if you are tired of sitting in front of a PC/laptop screen – TAKE a break and THEN come back, sync your PC or tablet to your T.V. and kick back in a chair and watch USEFUL material on YouTube.  This actually helps take the strain off at times.