In last week’s post we talked about our pure, unrelenting hatred for PIVOTED data (you know, when months JAN, FEB, MAR, etc. each have their own column). As I am trying to hit my quota of hypocrite points this week, I’d like to talk about how to turn UNPIVOTED data into PIVOTED data. A…
Ever received data where the months were column headers, like below? Ever felt the need to do something unspeakable to your keyboard, right after? You are not alone. However! Fear not, because there is salvation. Thou needst only use the UNPIVOT function in Snowflake, and rest, peace and Eden will return to your data landscape.…
Sometimes you just want to test something real quick in Snowflake and you need a table with some simple values. The “VALUES” function can help. The SQL below speaks for itself.
Chances are, you have used CRON syntax in the past. If you’re anything like me, you probably used AI to generate the CRON expression that matched your needs. Sometimes however, I like using my own brain for a change. In that spirit, I did a little refresher on the (traditional Unix) CRON syntax. I’d like…
Are you a lazy engineer? Then you are good engineer. Being lazy/good at automation of processes helps save work, time and money. In Data Build Tool (dbt) there are several packages that can help automate tedious tasks. The dbt-codegen package provides you with the macro’s generate_base_model and generate_source, among others. Macro’s in dbt are essentially…
Would you like to check if a table contains stale data? Nothing more embarrassing than having a user of a report point out that your data is wrinkled and saggy! As responsible Data Engineers / Analytics Engineers / Insert New Buzzword Job Title Here… we would like to be one step ahead of the users…
Are you collaborating with multiple Analytics Engineers on the same dbt repository? In the following hypothetical setup, dbt is used to load data into Snowflake, and Power BI is used to create reports based on that data. Each engineer has their own schema when developing and deploying locally, following dbt best practices. In Snowflake, this could look…
Meetings are useless. If no one is capturing decisions and to‑dos. It’s just a conversation. Every meeting needs: Otherwise, you’re not collaborating. You’re just blocking calendars.
Combining Data Build Tool (dbt) with CI/CD is a great way to automate tests during deployments from development environments to production. This approach ensures higher data quality and provides early feedback about potential issues 𝐛𝐞𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐞 end users see the data. There’s nothing more embarrassing than having an end user point out a data mistake that could have been caught earlier. By…
Do you ever have unanswered emails? I treat emails (and all digital communication with people I know, actually), like it is a real conversation. In the sense that, whenever I send a message, I expect an answer. And, whenever I receive a message, I try to respond. Sometimes it irks me when people do not…