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Spark SQL & DataFrames

Module Duration: 6-8 hours Focus: Structured data processing with DataFrames and SQL Outcome: Build optimized analytical queries using Spark’s DataFrame API

From RDDs to DataFrames

RDD Limitations:
  • No schema → No optimization
  • Manual type handling
  • Verbose transformations
DataFrames solve this:
  • Schema-aware (like SQL tables)
  • Automatic optimization (Catalyst)
  • Unified API (SQL + functional)
  • 10-100x faster than RDDs

Part 1: DataFrame Basics

Creating DataFrames

From existing data:
From files:

DataFrame Operations

Select columns:
Filter rows:
Add columns:
Aggregations:

Part 2: SQL Queries


Part 3: Catalyst Optimizer

Stages:
  1. Analysis → Resolve columns
  2. Logical Optimization → Predicate pushdown
  3. Physical Planning → Choose join strategies
  4. Code Generation → Optimized bytecode

Part 4: Joins & Window Functions

Joins:
Window functions:

Part 5: Performance

Caching:
Partitioning:
UDFs:

Summary

DataFrames provide 10-100x performance over RDDs through Catalyst optimization, schema awareness, and code generation. Use SQL or functional API interchangeably.

What’s Next?

Module 4: Spark Streaming

Process real-time data streams with Structured Streaming