Encompassing a broad range of forms and sources of data, this textbook
introduces data systems through a progressive presentation.
Introduction to Data Systems covers data acquisition starting with
local files, then progresses to data acquired from relational databases,
from REST APIs and through web scraping. It teaches data forms/formats
from tidy data to relationally defined sets of tables to hierarchical
structure like XML and JSON using data models to convey the structure,
operations, and constraints of each data form.
The starting point of the book is a foundation in Python programming
found in introductory computer science classes or short courses on the
language, and so does not require prerequisites of data structures,
algorithms, or other courses. This makes the material accessible to
students early in their educational career and equips them with
understanding and skills that can be applied in computer science, data
science/data analytics, and information technology programs as well as
for internships and research experiences. This book is accessible to a
wide variety of students. By drawing together content normally spread
across upper level computer science courses, it offers a single source
providing the essentials for data science practitioners. In our
increasingly data-centric world, students from all domains will benefit
from the "data-aptitude" built by the material in this book.
