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Introduction to Cassandra 3 for Developers

The Cassandra (C*) database is a massively scalable NoSQL database that provides high availability and fault tolerance, as well as linear scalability when adding new nodes to a cluster. It has many powerful capabilities, such as tunable and eventual consistency, that allow it to meet the needs of modern applications, but also introduce a new paradigm for data modeling that many organizations do not have the expertise to use in the best way

This course provides an in-depth introduction to using Cassandra and creating good data models with Cassandra. It is technical and comprehensive, with a focus on the practical aspects of working with C*. It introduces all the important concepts needed to understand Cassandra, including enough coverage of internal architecture to make good decisions. It is hands-on, with labs that provide experience in all the important areas. It covers CQL (Cassandra Query Language) in depth, as well as covering the Java API for writing Cassandra clients

After taking this course, you will have learned what you need to productively work with Cassandra as well as guidelines for using it in an optimal manner. You’ll also understand some of the “anti-patterns” that lead to non-optimal C* data models. You’ll be familiar with CQL and with the Java client library, and be ready to work on production systems involving Cassandra.

This course includes coverage of Cassandra 3.x, but is also suitable for users of Cassandra 2. Features introduced in Cassandra 3 are clearly indicated.

Course Objectives:

  • Understand the needs that C* addresses
  • Be familiar with the operation and structure of C*
  • Be able to install and set up a C* database
  • Use the C* tools, including cqlsh, nodetool, and ccm (Cassandra Cluster Manager)
  • Be familiar with the C* architecture, and how a C* cluster is structured
  • Understand how data is distributed and replicated in a C* cluster
  • Understand core C* data modeling concepts, and use them to create well-structured data models
  • Use data replication and eventual consistency intelligently
  • Understand and use CQL to create tables and query for data
  • Know and use the CQL data types (numerical, textual, uuid, etc.)
  • Understand the various kinds of primary keys available (simple, compound, and composite primary keys)
  • Use more advanced capabilities like collections, counters, secondary indexes, CAS (Compare and Set), static columns, and batches
  • Be familiar with the Java client API
  • Use the Java client API to write client programs that work with C*
  • Build and use dynamic queries with QueryBuilder
  • Understand and use asynchronous queries with the Java API

Course Outline: