CHAPTER 1
A Data Miner Looks at SQL
Data is being collected everywhere. Every transaction, every web page visit, every payment—and much more—is filling databases, relational and otherwise, with raw data. Computing power and storage have grown to be cost effective, a trend where today’s smart phones are more powerful than supercomputers of yesteryear. Databases are no longer merely platforms for storing data; they are powerful engines for transforming data into useful information about customers and products and business practices.
The focus on data mining has historically been on complex algorithms developed by statisticians and machine-learning specialists. Once upon a time, data mining required downloading source code from a research lab or university, compiling the code to get it to run, and sometimes even debugging it. By the time the data and software were ready, the business problem had lost urgency.
This book takes a different approach because it starts...