Cloud Computing, Data Analytics

3 Mins Read

Empowering Data Pipeline Development with Kedro

Voiced by Amazon Polly

Overview

In today’s data-driven world, managing complex data pipelines has become a crucial aspect of any data-driven project. As the volume and variety of data continue to grow, so does the need for a robust framework that simplifies the development, testing, and maintenance of these pipelines. Kedro, an open-source Python framework developed by QuantumBlack, offers a powerful solution to these challenges. In this comprehensive guide, we’ll explore the key features of Kedro and provide real-world examples to showcase its capabilities.

Pioneers in Cloud Consulting & Migration Services

  • Reduced infrastructural costs
  • Accelerated application deployment
Get Started

Introduction

Kedro is an open-source development framework that facilitates the creation, management, and execution of data pipelines. Developed by QuantumBlack, a McKinsey company, Kedro aims to streamline the data engineering process by providing a structured and standardized methodology.

It empowers data engineers, analysts, and scientists to work collaboratively, ensuring that data pipelines are reliable, modular, and well-documented.

Key Features of Kedro

  1. Project Structure and Modularity – One of the standout features of Kedro is its well-defined project structure. This structure encourages modularization and separation of concerns, making collaborating with team members easier and maintaining the codebase over time. The project structure includes directories for data, source code, notebooks, logs, and more, ensuring a clear organization of your project components.
  2. Modular Pipelines – Kedro introduces the concept of “nodes,” which are individual code units responsible for specific tasks within a data pipeline. Each node performs a distinct data transformation or computation, and nodes can be easily combined to create complex pipelines. This modular approach promotes reusability, simplifies testing, and enables incremental improvements to the pipeline.
  3. Data Catalog – The data catalog in Kedro acts as a central repository for managing data sources, transformations, and outputs. It abstracts data sets, providing a consistent interface for data access across different storage formats and locations. Utilizing the data catalog allows you to seamlessly switch between data sources without changing your pipeline code, making your pipeline more flexible and adaptable.
  4. Parameterization – Kedro encourages parameterization to enhance the flexibility of your pipelines. Parameters, such as file paths, thresholds, or hyperparameters, can be defined in a dedicated configuration file. This allows you to modify pipeline behavior without altering the underlying code. Parameterization promotes easy experimentation and customization, which is crucial for iterating on data pipelines.
  5. Testing and Documentation – Kedro promotes best practices for testing and documentation. It offers built-in tools for unit testing individual nodes and integration testing entire pipelines. Comprehensive documentation is automatically generated based on the project’s structure and metadata, ensuring your pipelines remain well-documented and understandable.

Real-World Example: Building a Kedro Data Pipeline

Let’s walk through a practical example to illustrate how Kedro can be used to build a data pipeline. In this scenario, we’ll create a pipeline to process and analyze a dataset of online retail transactions.

Step 1: Setting Up the Kedro Project

Start by creating a new directory for your project and installing Kedro:

Step 2: Defining Nodes and Pipelines

In the “src/retail_analytics/nodes” directory, create two Python files: load_data.py and analyze_data.py

load_data.py

analyze_data.py

In the src/retail_analytics/pipelines.py file, define a pipeline that connects the nodes:

pipelines.py

Step 3: Configuring the Kedro Project

Edit the src/retail_analytics/catalog.yml file to define the data source:

Define parameters in the src/retail_analytics/parameters.yml file:

Step 4: Running the Kedro Pipeline

Execute the following command to run the Kedro pipeline:

Kedro will execute the pipeline, loading the data from the specified source, performing analysis, and producing the desired output.

Step 5: Visualization and Testing

Visualize the pipeline graph to understand data dependencies:

Conclusion

Kedro is a powerful Python framework that simplifies the development and management of data pipelines. Its structured project layout, modular approach, data catalog, parameterization, and testing capabilities provide a comprehensive toolkit for building robust and scalable data workflows.

In this guide, we’ve only scratched the surface of what Kedro has to offer. As you explore the framework further, you’ll discover advanced features, integrations, and techniques that empower you to tackle even the most intricate data challenges. To dive deeper into Kedro’s capabilities, refer to the official documentation and start building your data pipelines today. Whether you’re a data engineer, data scientist, or machine learning practitioner, Kedro can revolutionize how you approach data pipeline development.

Drop a query if you have any questions regarding Kedro and we will get back to you quickly.

Making IT Networks Enterprise-ready – Cloud Management Services

  • Accelerated cloud migration
  • End-to-end view of the cloud environment
Get Started

About CloudThat

CloudThat is a leading provider of Cloud Training and Consulting services with a global presence in India, the USA, Asia, Europe, and Africa. Specializing in AWS, Microsoft Azure, GCP, VMware, Databricks, and more, the company serves mid-market and enterprise clients, offering comprehensive expertise in Cloud Migration, Data Platforms, DevOps, IoT, AI/ML, and more.

CloudThat is the first Indian Company to win the prestigious Microsoft Partner 2024 Award and is recognized as a top-tier partner with AWS and Microsoft, including the prestigious ‘Think Big’ partner award from AWS and the Microsoft Superstars FY 2023 award in Asia & India. Having trained 850k+ professionals in 600+ cloud certifications and completed 500+ consulting projects globally, CloudThat is an official AWS Advanced Consulting Partner, Microsoft Gold Partner, AWS Training PartnerAWS Migration PartnerAWS Data and Analytics PartnerAWS DevOps Competency PartnerAWS GenAI Competency PartnerAmazon QuickSight Service Delivery PartnerAmazon EKS Service Delivery Partner AWS Microsoft Workload PartnersAmazon EC2 Service Delivery PartnerAmazon ECS Service Delivery PartnerAWS Glue Service Delivery PartnerAmazon Redshift Service Delivery PartnerAWS Control Tower Service Delivery PartnerAWS WAF Service Delivery PartnerAmazon CloudFront Service Delivery PartnerAmazon OpenSearch Service Delivery PartnerAWS DMS Service Delivery PartnerAWS Systems Manager Service Delivery PartnerAmazon RDS Service Delivery PartnerAWS CloudFormation Service Delivery PartnerAWS ConfigAmazon EMR and many more.

FAQs

1. Is Kedro actively maintained and supported?

ANS: – Yes, Kedro is actively maintained by QuantumBlack and the open-source community. Regular updates, bug fixes, and new features are introduced to ensure that the framework remains robust and up to date with the evolving needs of data professionals.

2. Where can I find more resources and examples of projects built with Kedro?

ANS: – You can find additional resources, tutorials, and examples on the official Kedro website https://kedro.dev and https://kedro.org) and GitHub repository. The Kedro community is also active on forums, where you can ask questions, share experiences, and learn from other users’ projects.

WRITTEN BY Aehteshaam Shaikh

Aehteshaam Shaikh is working as a Research Associate - Data & AI/ML at CloudThat. He is passionate about Analytics, Machine Learning, Deep Learning, and Cloud Computing and is eager to learn new technologies.

Share

Comments

    Click to Comment

Get The Most Out Of Us

Our support doesn't end here. We have monthly newsletters, study guides, practice questions, and more to assist you in upgrading your cloud career. Subscribe to get them all!