Book Image

Data Modeling with Snowflake

By : Serge Gershkovich
5 (2)
Book Image

Data Modeling with Snowflake

5 (2)
By: Serge Gershkovich

Overview of this book

The Snowflake Data Cloud is one of the fastest-growing platforms for data warehousing and application workloads. Snowflake's scalable, cloud-native architecture and expansive set of features and objects enables you to deliver data solutions quicker than ever before. Yet, we must ensure that these solutions are developed using recommended design patterns and accompanied by documentation that’s easily accessible to everyone in the organization. This book will help you get familiar with simple and practical data modeling frameworks that accelerate agile design and evolve with the project from concept to code. These universal principles have helped guide database design for decades, and this book pairs them with unique Snowflake-native objects and examples like never before – giving you a two-for-one crash course in theory as well as direct application. By the end of this Snowflake book, you’ll have learned how to leverage Snowflake’s innovative features, such as time travel, zero-copy cloning, and change-data-capture, to create cost-effective, efficient designs through time-tested modeling principles that are easily digestible when coupled with real-world examples.
Table of Contents (24 chapters)
1
Part 1: Core Concepts in Data Modeling and Snowflake Architecture
8
Part 2: Applied Modeling from Idea to Deployment
14
Part 3: Solving Real-World Problems with Transformational Modeling

Mastering Snowflake Objects

The previous chapter introduced the innovative architecture that powers the Data Cloud and unlocks possibilities that have never been possible in other databases. In this chapter, we will explore the database objects that Snowflake customers will use in their modeling journey. Objects such as tables and views will undoubtedly be familiar to most people who have previously worked with SQL. Still, even here, Snowflake’s unique features unlock potential efficiencies in designing physical models, so users should be well acquainted with them.

Due to its variable spend pricing, Snowflake data modeling requires users to be well acquainted with the cost/performance trade-offs of its supported objects and their parameters. For those who have never worked with Snowflake, exclusive features such as streams and external tables may still be unfamiliar. But making good design decisions demands that users have a firm grasp and a thorough understanding of Snowflake...