By the end of this chapter, you may feel like the adrenaline accumulated within the first two has got a bit diluted, but you would be wrong. This chapter was all about discovering the basic ingredients of a well-conceived and well-conducted data mining project, namely:
- The data sources (where to find data to answer your questions)
- The data warehouse (where to properly store your data to have it at your disposal when needed)
- The data mining engine (to perform your data modelling activities, and get knowledge from your data)
- The user interface (to interact with your engine)
We are now ready to leave the quiet village where our apprentice took place, where we discovered our weapon, its power and the way to use it. A real and complex problem is waiting for us just on the next page. Good luck, my dear reader.