What is — Apache Iceberg

Karim Faiz
3 min readDec 13, 2023

Apache Iceberg is an open-source table format for huge analytic datasets, providing a more efficient and reliable way to handle data at scale. Initially developed by Netflix and now a part of the Apache Software Foundation, Iceberg addresses many of the limitations of older formats. Below is a detailed guide on what Apache Iceberg is and how to get started with it.

Key Features of Apache Iceberg

  1. Hidden Partitioning: Iceberg handles partitioning behind the scenes, simplifying data management and optimizing query performance.
  2. Full Snapshot Isolation: Ensures data consistency and integrity, allowing concurrent reads and writes without interference.
  3. Schema Evolution: Supports adding, renaming, deleting, and reordering fields without rewriting the entire dataset.
  4. Time Travel: Allows querying of data snapshots at specific points in time, facilitating data audit and rollback scenarios.
  5. File Format Agnostic: Works with popular file formats like Parquet, Avro, and ORC.
  6. Efficient Storage Management: Minimizes metadata size and improves read/write performance, especially…

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Karim Faiz

Data Architect / Data Engineer - Follow me to stay informed and be the first to benefit from my upcoming articles! 🌟👏 My links 🔗 : https://bio.link/karimfaiz