Apache Cassandra is a NoSQL, open source distributed database management system. It was first developed at facebook by Avinash Lakshman and Prashant Mali. Cassandra was designed from the ground up to handle huge amounts of data across many commodity servers (in other words it doesn’t require fancy servers to run), providing high availability with no single point of failure (the system won’t collapse in case of a single node failure).

There are any key features for Cassandra; elastic scalability, always on architecture, Fast linear-scale performance, flexible data storage, easy data distribution, MapReduce support and Query language, and for that many large companies relies on Cassandra like; Apple, facebook, Adobe, SoundCloud, Comcast, Zoho, eBay, Rackspace, Netflix, Twitter, and Cisco.

The aim of this post is to present and compare between free online sources that beginners can rely on to learn Cassandra, the sources stated here are full-structured courses that beginners can follow along.

If you just want the bottom line (the road map to learn Cassandra) and you don’t wish to read the entire article then go to the “Bottom Line” section at the end of the article.

Getting Started with Cassandra from Scratch

Tutorials Point

Tutorials Point is the first free online outlet where beginners can start learning Cassandra from scratch. This is a text based course and you don’t need to register to have access to the course.

Structure: The training is divided into 5 sections, and each section is divided into topics in Cassandra.

Interface: The interface is very simple, just click on the topic you’re interested in and you’ll be directed to the topic’s page.

Now, the pros and cons:

Pros

1. Free.
2. The course is well-organized for beginners.

Cons

1. The course is more structured towards revising certain topics in Cassandra.

Verdict: This is the best outlet where beginners can start learning Cassandra online through a text-based tutorial.

Planet Cassandra

Planet Cassandra is the second free online outlet where beginners can start learning Cassandra through video tutorials, you don’t have to register to have access to the training.

Structure: The training is divided into two main categories; the first category has tutorials for Cassandra developers and the other has tutorials for Cassandra administrators. Each category is divided into video lessons.

Interface: The interface is very simple, just click on the lesson you’re interested in and you’ll be directed to a new page where the video resides.

Now, the pros and cons:

Pros

1. Free.

Cons

1. The training is more of an overview about Cassandra.

Verdict: This outlet is more suitable for those who want to get an overview about Cassandra.

DataStax

DataStax is the third free online outlet where beginners can start learning Cassandra online through video tutorials, you’ve to register in order to have access to the training.

Structure: The training is divided into 5 sections (Courses), each of the sections is divided into video lessons hat covers the various topics in Cassandra. There are quizzes that tests your understanding of the course.

Interface: The interface is very simple, just click on the section (Course) you’re interested in and you’ll be directed to a new page where the lessons covering that section resides.

Now, the pros and cons:

Pros

1. Free.
2. The training is well-structured and organized for complete beginners.
3. The material used in the training is available for the user to download which makes it very easy to follow along the course.
4. Quizzes are an excellent way for the user to test their understanding of the material covered in the course.

Cons

1. There’s not a noticeable drawback to be stated.

Verdict: This is the best outlet for beginners to start learning Cassandra online through video tutorials.

Edureka YouTube Channel

Edureka YouTube Channel is the fourth free online outlet where beginners can start learning Cassandra through video tutorials.

Structure: The training is divided into 22 video lessons, each video lesson covers various topics in Cassandra.

Interface: Standard YouTube interface.

Now, the pros and cons:

Pros

1. Free.
2. The training covers the basics beginners should be familiarized with in order to start using Cassandra.
3. The training is well-structured and organized for beginners.

Cons

1. Some of the videos are too long which might be a problem for some beginners.

Verdict: This is an excellent outlet for beginners to start learning Cassandra through video tutorials.

Bottom Line

The recipe for learning Cassandra:

1. DataStax is the best outlet for beginners to start learning Cassandra through video tutorial.
2. Tutorials Point is the best outlet for beginners to start learning Cassandra through a text based tutorial.

Remember that the first step is always the toughest step, and the aim of this post is to provide you with resources that will help you take your first step in learning Cassandra.