This chapter will introduce the reader to the concepts of big data and the core technologies that comprise it. This knowledge is essential as the foundation to learn Cascading. Cascading provides a comprehensive framework that definitely eases many of the verbose and mundane tasks associated with writing Hadoop, and in the future, many other types of big data jobs. However, as with all complex subjects, an understanding of how Hadoop works is required to gain a full understanding of how to best use Cascading.