Big data & Spark
PySpark jobs, partitioning, batch processing, and large-dataset transform patterns.
How to Broadcast a Small Lookup Table in Python
Simulates broadcasting a small lookup table by iterating key-value pairs and emitting packed rows to subscribers with deterministic output.
import random
# Generate a deterministic mock broadcast of a small lookup table
# with 5 keys and random integer values (seeded for reproducibility)
data = {
"sensor_a": 22,
"sensor_b": 87,
"sensor_c": 43,
"sensor_d": 65,
"sensor_e": 31,
}
# Simulate a broadcast to subscribers by iterating and p…How to Create a Mock Kafka Producer in Python
Build a Kafka producer that generates mock streaming records with JSON serialization and error handling for local testing.
import json
import time
from kafka import KafkaProducer
from kafka.errors import KafkaError
def create_mock_producer(bootstrap_servers="localhost:9092", topic="input-topic"):
"""Create a Kafka producer that generates mock streaming data."""
producer = KafkaProducer(
bootstrap_servers=bootstrap_servers…How to Explode an Array Column in Python
This code demonstrates a mock explode operation that converts an array column into multiple rows, similar to Spark's explode function.
import json
def explode_array_column(data, column):
"""Mock explode: split array column into multiple rows."""
exploded = []
for row in data:
values = row.get(column, [])
for value in values:
new_row = dict(row)
new_row[column] = value
exploded.append(n…How to Filter and Project Spark DataFrames with PySpark SQL
Simulate a SQL SELECT with WHERE using PySpark DataFrame select and filter to project columns and apply conditions.
from pyspark.sql import SparkSession
from pyspark.sql.functions import col
spark = SparkSession.builder.appName("QueryFilterMock").master("local[2]").getOrCreate()
data = [
("Alice", 28, "Engineering"),
("Bob", 35, "Sales"),
("Carol", 32, "Engineering"),
("David", 25, "Marketing"),
("Eve", 29, "E…How to Implement MapReduce Word Count in Python Using a Dict
Simulate a MapReduce word count pipeline in Python with a mock dict, splitting text into words, shuffling, and reducing to frequency counts.
def map_reduce_word_count(text: str) -> dict:
"""Simulate a MapReduce pipeline to count word frequencies."""
# MAP phase: split into words and emit (word, 1) pairs
mapped = []
for word in text.lower().split():
# Clean word of punctuation
clean_word = ''.join(char for char in word if cha…How to Implement collect_list in Python
Group rows by a key and collect all corresponding values into a list — a pure-Python mock of Spark's collect_list aggregation.
from collections import defaultdict
def collect_list(rows, key_field, value_field):
grouped = defaultdict(list)
for row in rows:
grouped[row[key_field]].append(row[value_field])
return dict(grouped)
if __name__ == "__main__":
data = [
{"dept": "sales", "emp": "alice"},
{"dept"…How to Mock DataFrame Schema Columns in Python
Create an empty pandas DataFrame with only the specified column names to mock a schema before any data is loaded.
import pandas as pd
def mock_schema(columns):
return pd.DataFrame(columns=columns)
if __name__ == "__main__":
cols = ["name", "age", "city"]
df = mock_schema(cols)
print(df)
print(f"Columns: {list(df.columns)}, Shape: {df.shape}")How to Mock Hive Support in PySpark with unittest.mock
This code demonstrates how to mock Hive support in a PySpark environment using unittest.mock to simulate SQL queries returning fixed data.
from unittest.mock import Mock, patch
def get_hive_tables(spark):
"""Mock Hive support by returning a fixed list of tables."""
return spark.sql("SHOW TABLES").collect()
class HiveTable:
"""Simple class that mimics a Hive table row."""
def __init__(self, database, tableName):
self.database =…How to Mock Partition Pruning in Python
A dataclass-based mock that filters partitions by year and month to emulate Spark's partition pruning logic.
from dataclasses import dataclass
from typing import List
@dataclass(frozen=True)
class Partition:
id: int
year: int
month: int
class PartitionPruner:
"""Mock partition pruning: only keep partitions that match the filter."""
def __init__(self, partitions: List[Partition]):
self._partiti…How to Mock a File Source Watch Directory in Python
Poll a directory for new files and log changes, simulating a watch directory for data ingestion patterns.
import os
import time
from pathlib import Path
def watch_directory(dir_path: str, poll_interval: float = 1.0, max_iterations: int = 5):
"""
Mock a file-source watch directory by polling for changes.
Returns new files detected during each poll cycle.
"""
directory = Path(dir_path)
directory.mk…How to Mock a Hash Join on Large and Small Tables in Python
This code efficiently joins a large dataset (1000 rows) with a small lookup table (20 rows) by building a dictionary hash lookup, mimicking a hash join strategy used in big data systems.
import random
from pprint import pprint
# Large table: 1000 rows (id, group_id, value)
large = [{"id": i, "group_id": random.randint(1, 20), "value": random.random() * 100} for i in range(1000)]
# Small table: 20 rows (group_id, label)
small = [{"group_id": g, "label": f"Group-{g}"} for g in range(1, 21)]
# Mock a …How to Mock a Socket Stream in Python
Simulate a streaming socket source with a generator to test stream-read and buffering logic without a real network.
import socket
import threading
import time
def mock_socket_stream(data_chunks, delay=0.1):
"""Generator that simulates a streaming socket source."""
for chunk in data_chunks:
time.sleep(delay)
yield chunk
def read_stream_socket(stream_gen):
"""Reads from mock stream and prints received ch…How to Mock a User-Defined Function (UDF) in Python
Wrap a real UDF implementation with call logging to simulate and track invocations in a data pipeline.
from typing import Any, Callable
# Mock a user-defined function (UDF) that was previously complex or external
def mock_udf(name: str, implementation: Callable[..., Any], *, calls: list[Any]) -> Callable[..., Any]:
"""Wrap a real implementation with call logging to simulate a UDF."""
def wrapper(*args: Any, *…How to Pivot and Group Aggregate in Python
Group records by a key, collect values, and apply an aggregate function (like sum) to build a pivot-style summary dictionary.
from collections import defaultdict
def pivot_group_aggregate(records, group_key, value_key, agg_func):
groups = defaultdict(list)
for record in records:
groups[record[group_key]].append(record[value_key])
return {key: agg_func(values) for key, values in groups.items()}
if __name__ == "__main__":…How to Shuffle Items by Group in Python
Randomly shuffle items within each group while keeping groups contiguous, using a seed for reproducible results.
import random
def shuffle_sort_groups(items, group_key, seed=None):
"""Randomize order within groups, keeping groups contiguous."""
rng = random.Random(seed)
groups = {}
for item in items:
key = group_key(item)
groups.setdefault(key, []).append(item)
result = []
for k…How to Truncate Lineage Back to a Checkpoint in Python
Walks a linked list of lineage nodes upward to find the nearest checkpoint and returns that node, truncating the lineage.
class LineageNode:
def __init__(self, name, parent=None, checkpoint=None):
self.name = name
self.parent = parent
self.checkpoint = checkpoint
def truncate_at_checkpoint(self):
"""Truncate lineage back to the last checkpoint."""
current = self
while current.check…How to Use Broadcast Variables as Read-Only in PySpark (Mock Example)
Share a lookup dict across Spark executors with a broadcast variable and verify its read-only behavior in a local mock.
from pyspark import SparkContext, SparkConf
def main():
conf = SparkConf().setAppName("BroadcastMock").setMaster("local[2]")
sc = SparkContext(conf=conf)
lookup = {"a": 1, "b": 2, "c": 3}
broadcast_lookup = sc.broadcast(lookup)
data = ["a", "b", "c", "a", "unknown"]
rdd = sc.parallel…How to select specific columns in Python with SQLite
A reusable function that connects to a SQLite database and returns only the requested columns from a given table.
import sqlite3
def select_pruned_columns(db_path, table, columns):
with sqlite3.connect(db_path) as conn:
cursor = conn.cursor()
col_list = ", ".join(columns)
query = f"SELECT {col_list} FROM {table}"
return cursor.execute(query).fetchall()
if __name__ == "__main__":
conn = sq…Browse by section
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Big data & Spark — Python code examples
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