Big Data and Codecademy

During last week’s class we had a discussion on Big Data. Big Data is essentially data which is so great in size that it does not fit into normal data processors.¹ An example of Big Data is millions of Facebook statuses. This topic was touched on in earlier classes as well and it always seems to lead back to the same question. The question of whether or not storing Big Data will improve historical documentation and perhaps allow us to answer historical questions that we otherwise would not have been able to answer. I think the answer to this question is quite clear. Firstly, Big Data will undoubtedly improve historical documentation. For instance, the storage of millions of Facebook statuses will allow people in the future to have access to a significant amount of primary information, regarding normal people’s lives. Thus, this would allow future historians to conduct detailed examinations of our culture in a unique manner, which would allow them to get a sense of the type of people we are. However, as we established in class, Big Data is not going to provide us with new information about the past (before the internet), that we were not already aware of.

In addition, at the end of last class we went on Codecademy. Codecademy is a website which provides its users with free coding classes in numerous programming languages. These languages include Python, PHP, jQuery, Javascript , Ruby, HTML and CSS. Being entirely new to coding, I did not know what to expect after I selected to animate my name. However, after slowly graduating through a few stages of the online tutorial, it was apparent that Codecademy’s classes were both rewarding and educational. By slowly showing me the progress I made with each code I learned, I was able to keep confident and now have a new interest in the website. I think that the digital tools which Codecademy offers are essential to every student interested in any aspect of digital humanities. This is because although learning to code provides people with the basic knowledge needed to develop a website, it also helps one understand the technology which has become such a significant part of our everyday lives.

Bibliography

Kachmarchik, Kaitlyn. “Data, Data, Data.” Connections. November 23, 2013. Accessed February 11, 2015. https://kaitlynkachmarchik.wordpress.com/2013/11/23/data-data-data/.