Well worth reading: The past, present, and future of data science. It is authoritative and free.

I want to cry for not having a phd

the past, present and future of not having a phd.

@Tim, it isn't clear that you necessarily have to have a Ph.D.; it depends on what you want to do. See: Having a job in data mining without a PhD.

Thanks, @gung. I don't know, because that doesn't depend on what I want.

I would like to do a market basket analysis. I modified an example of an a-priori algorithm described in Fast Algorithms for Mining Association Rules by Agrawal, Srikant. If I want to do a market basket analysis, is the a-priori algorithm described the preferred method? The paper is from 1994, and I'm wondering if a newer and faster algorithm has come around.

It is perfectly fine to ask your question on the main site. Dear @Brian

Thanks @Tim. I'll ask it there.