Data refers to raw facts, figures, or symbols that represent information in an unprocessed form. It can exist in various formats such as numbers, text, images, audio, or video, and is the basic input used for analysis, decision-making, and computing processes.
In computing and data science, data is collected, stored, and processed to generate meaningful information. It plays a key role in applications such as artificial intelligence, databases, analytics, and software systems.
For example:
- Temperature readings collected from a weather sensor are data.
- A list of customer names and phone numbers in a database is data.
- Clicks and page views on a website are raw data used for analytics.
- Survey responses collected from users are data before analysis.
Common technologies and concepts related to data include:
- Databases (SQL, NoSQL)
- Data Analytics
- Big Data
- Data Mining
- Data Visualization
- Machine Learning
- Spreadsheets (Excel)
- Data Warehousing
- Structured and Unstructured Data