Intro to Data Science

Data science has been one of, if not the, fastest-growing fields of the last several decades. The term “data science” and many of its companions - such as machine learning or data analysis - pop up everywhere these days, making it just about impossible to spend more than five minutes on the Internet or outside without hearing them come up. But what exactly is data science, and why should you care so much about it? Typically, data science involves the extraction of knowledge and insights from data (collections of information). Defining data science more specifically than this is difficult because it has a presence in nearly every other field and data itself can be found or extracted from just about anything. 

The intention behind this map is to serve as an introduction to all things data science and data science-adjacent. For those looking to break into the field and get started on learning data science methods and applications, the following sections will be packed with such resources. For those just wishing to learn a bit more about what’s involved with data science and perhaps gain some familiarity with the terms, there will be discussion of that too. And even for those who are already in the data science field and have projects or positions under their belt, I think this map can provide you with some new guides to look into and refreshers on important concepts. So regardless of your skill level or experience, if you have any interest in data science or expect to interact with it at some point in the future (and I guarantee that you will), the next few pages will contain some helpful information for you.