Phase 2: Enterprise Data Engineering · 60 min · Python · Apache Airflow · PostgreSQL

ETL/ELT Pipeline Design with Airflow

The pipeline is the product. The AI is the feature.

Hiring signal: Practical coding rounds test pipeline design: candidates who build ETL pipelines with proper error handling, retries, and data quality checks pass. Candidates who write linear scripts without retry logic or SLA monitoring fail. The incremental loading pattern (CDC, watermark columns, merge vs. append) is a specific skill that enterprise FDE roles at Databricks and Snowflake test for.

What you will learn

Design ETL vs. ELT pipelines and choose the right approach for client constraints
Build Airflow DAGs using TaskFlow API: operators, sensors, dependencies, scheduling
Implement pipeline reliability: retries, error handling, SLA monitoring, dead-letter queues
Apply incremental loading patterns: CDC, watermark columns, merge vs. append strategies

What You'll Learn

This lesson takes approximately 60 min. By the end, you will be able to:

Design ETL vs. ELT pipelines and choose the right approach for client constraints
Build Airflow DAGs using TaskFlow API: operators, sensors, dependencies, scheduling
Implement pipeline reliability: retries, error handling, SLA monitoring, dead-letter queues
Apply incremental loading patterns: CDC, watermark columns, merge vs. append strategies

The Problem

Before you can build a RAG system, you need to get data from the client's source systems into a form your pipeline can consume. That means ETL/ELT pipelines: extracting from databases, APIs, and file systems; transforming and cleaning; loading into a staging area. Airflow is the industry standard for orchestrating these pipelines.

Unlock the full lesson

You've read the first 2 sections. The rest of this lesson covers ETL vs ELT: Choosing the Right Approach, Building Airflow DAGs with TaskFlow API, Pipeline Reliability Patterns, Incremental Loading Patterns, Practical Application, What Hiring Managers Look For, Resources, Key Takeaways, Next Steps — plus a hands-on lab, quiz, and project artifact.

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