Real-World Data Pipeline Patterns

Architecture Diagram

Formal Definitions

Detailed Explanation

ETL vs ELT: Which Pattern to Choose?

Rule of Thumb: Use ETL for small datasets where you need complex transformations. Use ELT when your warehouse can handle the transformation load efficiently.

Pipeline Design Principles

1. Idempotency: Every pipeline run should produce the same result given the same input
2. Atomicity: Each task should do one thing well
3. Observability: Include logging, metrics, and alerting at every stage
4. Resilience: Design for failure with retries, checkpoints, and rollback capabilities
5. Data Quality: Validate data at every stage boundary

ETL Pipeline Pattern

ELT Pipeline Pattern

Incremental Loading Pattern