What is Apache Beam?
Apache Beam is an open source, unified programming model that defines pipelines for batch and streaming data processing. Beam provides a simple, Java/Python SDK for building pipelines that can run on multiple execution engines.
Key aspects of Apache Beam include:
- Portability - Beam abstractions allow pipelines to be executed across different runners like Apache Spark, Google Cloud Dataflow, Apache Flink and more.
- Flexibility - Beam model supports both batch and streaming data processing pipelines.
- Extensibility - Beam SDKs allow easy integration with external IOs, DSLs, and libraries.
With Apache Beam, developers can build data processing pipelines that can scale to process any volume of data. The unified APIs allow reusing code across small test cases to very large production pipelines. Beam runners manage pipeline execution, distribution and fault tolerance for the underlying systems.