This guide is for beginners who want to start their first data engineering project with a basic understanding of Python. It focuses on using Dagster, an open-source solution for data orchestration, and provides a step-by-step approach to creating successful data pipelines. The guide covers setting up the project's root directory, launching a virtual environment, installing Dagster and scaffolding an initial project, declaring assets in Dagster, and understanding serialization in Dagster. It also introduces software-defined assets, which enable a declarative approach to data management, making it easier to manage and organize code. The guide provides examples of creating two assets: hackernews_top_story_ids and hackernews_top_stories, and demonstrates how to run the pipeline and create assets using Dagster's user interface.