Describe dbt's role and how it differs from traditional ETL
TESTS: Declarative warehouse transformation vs imperative ETL. OUTLINE: Position dbt as ELT's T with lineage, tests, docs; contrast with Python ETL using external compute and Airflow only scheduling tasks.
WHAT IT TESTS: Whether you understand the shift from imperative ETL outside the warehouse to declarative SQL transformations inside it. ANSWER OUTLINE: A strong answer positions dbt as the T in ELT, using modular SQL with Jinja, tests, lineage, and documentation. Contrast this with Python ETL which extracts and loads using external compute, and Airflow which purely orchestrates tasks without native model awareness. RED FLAG: Treating dbt as an Airflow replacement or as just a SQL runner without software engineering guardrails.
Read the original → docs.getdbt.com
- #dbt
- #elt
- #data-engineering
- #analytics
- #airflow
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