Book Image

Hands-On Data Science with SQL Server 2017

By : Marek Chmel, Vladimír Mužný
Book Image

Hands-On Data Science with SQL Server 2017

By: Marek Chmel, Vladimír Mužný

Overview of this book

SQL Server is a relational database management system that enables you to cover end-to-end data science processes using various inbuilt services and features. Hands-On Data Science with SQL Server 2017 starts with an overview of data science with SQL to understand the core tasks in data science. You will learn intermediate-to-advanced level concepts to perform analytical tasks on data using SQL Server. The book has a unique approach, covering best practices, tasks, and challenges to test your abilities at the end of each chapter. You will explore the ins and outs of performing various key tasks such as data collection, cleaning, manipulation, aggregations, and filtering techniques. As you make your way through the chapters, you will turn raw data into actionable insights by wrangling and extracting data from databases using T-SQL. You will get to grips with preparing and presenting data in a meaningful way, using Power BI to reveal hidden patterns. In the concluding chapters, you will work with SQL Server integration services to transform data into a useful format and delve into advanced examples covering machine learning concepts such as predictive analytics using real-world examples. By the end of this book, you will be in a position to handle the growing amounts of data and perform everyday activities that a data science professional performs.
Table of Contents (14 chapters)

Using R for data transformation

R is a programming language oriented on statistical and data science computations. Although R is quite old, its popularity has been growing in recent years together with more projects oriented on statistics and predictions. Starting in 2016, Microsoft introduced R Services as a part of SQL Server. SQL server 2017 then renamed R Services to Machine Learning Services because Python support was added to SQL Server 2017.

While R is very popular, many data scientists warn against using languages such as R or Python. The main argument is that both languages are too syntax-oriented, hence the developer handles the source code and forgets to solve the assigned statistical or data science problem. The same data scientists prefer more drag-and-drop-oriented technologies. For developers who mainly want to work with Microsoft technologies but are not familiar...