Curated Learning Path I wish I knew before I started working with Big Data

So, you want to associate yourself with the Big Data world. It could be because of the hype or it could be because of the nature of the work. It could be because you are simply curious. I did because I was curious, I felt as if I was not catching up with the trends and I also chose to work with Big Data.

However, after spending approximately 3 years working with Big Data in different aspects, I realized one thing that would have made working with Big Data easier. It is “Understanding the nuances of Distributed Computing over Centralized Computing”. So, here is a curated list of resources I recommend based on my experience for anyone who wishes to enter the Big Data world especially the ones who are transitioning from the Business Intelligence world to Big Data world. Obviously, I will keep updating this blog post :)

I tried my best to order them in such a way that it makes sense for a beginner, but I do not guarantee there won’t be out of order references.

1. Distributed Systems in One Lesson by Tim Berglund here. [If you don’t have a subscription on O'Reilly, I strongly recommend one. It is an amazing and underrated learning platform. More details here] If you don’t want to take a subscription, Google the same phrase and you should find a few shortened versions of the same resource. This will give a very good overview of thinking in a Distributed Systems mindset. One such shortened version on YouTube here
2. [Optional, but recommended] Once you get this bird's eye view of distributed systems, go ahead and deep dive into the topics you find interesting. I usually read research papers published by Google and others. I have written a separate blog post that I will keep updating here

3. I won’t consider I am a great programmer and I tend to think in terms of SQL. If you are like me, register for this specialization by Cloudera — Modern Big Data Analysis with SQL Specialization. You will start looking at databases from a completely different perspective and this is one of the best courses on Coursera for me.

4. Big Data Specialization on Coursera [This one has rave reviews.]

4. Designing Data-Intensive Applications: This is one of the best books on the subject. You will not be learning any particular technology, rather you get a great understanding of working on data in distributed systems. You can find this book on amazon too or local libraries.

5. Architect and Build Big Data Applications Learning Path: This learning path on O'Reilly Media curates a series of videos covering almost most of the aspects of the Big Data Ecosystem.

Disclaimer: There are many more amazing resources online and would love to include them. Please include it in the Comments Section.