Keeping Your Data Warehouse In Order With DataForm

Episode • Oct 15, 2019 • 47m

Summary

Managing a data warehouse can be challenging, especially when trying to maintain a common set of patterns. Dataform is a platform that helps you apply engineering principles to your data transformations and table definitions, including unit testing SQL scripts, defining repeatable pipelines, and adding metadata to your warehouse to improve your team’s communication. In this episode CTO and co-founder of Dataform Lewis Hemens joins the show to explain his motivation for creating the platform and company, how it works under the covers, and how you can start using it today to get your data warehouse under control.

Announcements

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Your host is Tobias Macey and today I’m interviewing Lewis Hemens about DataForm, a platform that helps analysts manage all data processes in your cloud data warehouse

Interview

Introduction
How did you get involved in the area of data management?
Can you start by explaining what DataForm is and the origin story for the platform and company?
- What are the main benefits of using a tool like DataForm and who are the primary users?
Can you talk through the workflow for someone using DataForm and highlight the main features that it provides?
What are some of the challenges and mistakes that are common among engineers and analysts with regard to versioning and evolving schemas and the accompanying data?
How does CI/CD and change management manifest in the context of data warehouse management?
How is the Dataform SDK itself implemented and how has it evolved since you first began working on it?
- Can you differentiate the capabilities between the open source CLI and the hosted web platform, and when you might need to use one over the other?
What was your selection process for an embedded runtime and how did you decide on javascript?
- Can you talk through some of the use cases that having an embedded runtime enables?
- What are the limitations of SQL when working in a collaborative environment?
Which database engines do you support and how do you reduce the maintenance burden for supporting different dialects and capabilities?
What is involved in adding support for a new backend?
When is DataForm the wrong choice?
What do you have planned for the future of DataForm?

Contact Info

LinkedIn
@lewishemens on Twitter
lewish on GitHub

Parting Question

From your perspective, what is the biggest gap in the tooling or technology for data management today?

Closing Announcements

Thank you for listening! Don’t forget to check out our other show, Podcast.__init__ to learn about the Python language, its community, and the innovative ways it is being used.
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The intro and outro music is from The Hug by The Freak Fandango Orchestra / CC BY-SA

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