In this chapter
- an introduction to stream processing
- differentiating between stream processing systems and other systems
“If it weren’t for the rocks in its bed, the stream would have no song.”
—Carl Perkins
In this chapter, we will try to answer a few basic questions about streaming systems, starting with “what is stream processing?” and “what are these stream processing systems, or streaming systems, used for?” The objective is to cover some basic ideas that will be discussed in later chapters.
Stream processing has been one of the most popular technologies in the recent years in the big data domain. Streaming systems are the computer systems that process continuous event streams.