ETL Pipelines
Medium Priority11 min readUpdated May 26, 2026
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ETL pipelines move data from source systems into destinations where it can be queried, analyzed, served, or used by models. ETL stands for extract, transform, and load.
Production pipelines are more than data copies. They protect source systems, handle retries safely, preserve lineage, validate data, support backfills, and give consumers a reliable contract.
In this chapter, you will learn:
- How extract, transform, and load phases work
- How ETL differs from ELT
- How to design reliable pipeline patterns
- How to handle failures and backfills