Reference library

Big data & Spark

PySpark jobs, partitioning, batch processing, and large-dataset transform patterns.

21 matches
Big data & Spark easy

Cache persist MEMORY_ONLY mock in Python

Mock a MEMORY_ONLY persistence cache in Python with an LRU eviction policy and optional persistence flag.

cache lru mock
Python
import time

class LRUCache:
    def __init__(self, capacity, persistence="MEMORY_ONLY"):
        self.capacity = capacity
        self.persistence = persistence
        self.cache = {}
        self.access_order = []
        self.hits = 0
        self.misses = 0

    def get(self, key):
        if key in self.cache:
 …
13 0 Open
Big data & Spark easy

Compaction Small Files Mock in Python

Simulates a small-files compaction job by creating small mock files and merging them into a single output file using Python's standard library.

compaction file-io mock
Python
from pathlib import Path
import tempfile
import os


def create_small_files(directory: Path, file_count: int = 5, lines_per_file: int = 3):
    """Create several small mock files with sample content."""
    directory.mkdir(exist_ok=True)
    for i in range(file_count):
        file_path = directory / f"part-{i:04d}.tx…
17 0 Open
Big data & Spark easy

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.

broadcast lookup-table dictionary
Python
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…
14 0 Open
Big data & Spark easy

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.

kafka streaming producer
Python
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…
16 0 Open
Big data & Spark easy

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.

explode arrays pyspark
Python
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…
13 0 Open
Big data & Spark easy

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.

pyspark dataframe filter
Python
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…
14 0 Open
Big data & Spark easy

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.

mapreduce word-count dictionary
Python
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…
16 0 Open
Big data & Spark easy

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.

collect_list aggregation grouping
Python
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"…
15 0 Open
Big data & Spark easy

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.

spark partition dataclass
Python
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…
15 0 Open
Big data & Spark easy

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.

file-watching polling etl
Python
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…
15 0 Open
Big data & Spark easy

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.

hash-join dictionaries data-join
Python
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 …
13 0 Open
Big data & Spark easy

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.

udf mock testing
Python
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, *…
13 0 Open
Big data & Spark easy

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.

pivot group-by aggregation
Python
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__":…
13 0 Open
Big data & Spark easy

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.

pyspark broadcast spark
Python
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…
13 0 Open
Big data & Spark easy

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.

sqlite sql database
Python
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…
15 0 Open
Big data & Spark easy

Hudi Upsert Mock Copy on Write in Python

Simulates Apache Hudi's Copy-on-Write upsert behavior by merging update records into a deep copy of base records, replacing matches or appending new ones.

hudi upsert copy-on-write
Python
import copy
from typing import Dict, List, Any

def upsert_copy_on_write(base_records: List[Dict[str, Any]], updates: List[Dict[str, Any]], key_field: str = "id") -> List[Dict[str, Any]]:
    """Simulate Hudi Copy-on-Write upsert: merge updates into a copy of base records."""
    result = copy.deepcopy(base_records)
 …
14 0 Open
Big data & Spark easy

Modeling a Hive Metastore Table Schema in Python

A dataclass that mimics a Hive metastore table schema—columns, partition keys, storage format, and location—with helper methods for description and mutation.

hive dataclass metastore
Python
from dataclasses import dataclass, field
from typing import Dict, List, Optional


@dataclass
class HiveTable:
    """Simple mock of a Hive metastore table schema."""
    name: str
    database: str = "default"
    columns: List[Dict[str, str]] = field(default_factory=list)
    partition_keys: List[Dict[str, str]] = f…
14 0 Open
Big data & Spark easy

Partition Data by Hash Key Mod N in Python

Returns a partition index for a string key by hashing it with MD5 and taking modulo N, then groups sample keys into partitions.

hashing partitioning hashlib
Python
import hashlib


def partition_key(key: str, num_partitions: int) -> int:
    """Return partition index for key using MD5 hash mod N."""
    digest = hashlib.md5(key.encode()).hexdigest()
    return int(digest, 16) % num_partitions


if __name__ == "__main__":
    keys = ["alice", "bob", "carol", "dave", "eve"]
    nu…
12 0 Open
Big data & Spark easy

Session window gap mock in Python

Group sorted timestamps into sessions where any gap between consecutive events exceeds a threshold starts a new session.

timestamps sessions windowing
Python
from datetime import datetime, timedelta


def session_windows(timestamps, gap_seconds=300):
    """Group timestamps into sessions where gaps > gap_seconds start new sessions."""
    if not timestamps:
        return []

    # Sort timestamps chronologically to ensure correct windowing
    timestamps = sorted(timestam…
14 0 Open
Big data & Spark easy

Sliding Window Streaming Mock in Python

A simple Python class that maintains a sliding window of recent streaming values and computes the running average.

streaming sliding-window averages
Python
import time
import random

class StreamingMock:
    """Produces a stream of numbers using a sliding window."""
    
    def __init__(self, window_size=5):
        self.window = []
        self.window_size = window_size
        
    def push(self, value):
        """Add a value, sliding the window forward."""
        s…
12 0 Open
Big data & Spark easy

Z-Order Optimization in Python

A mock concept demonstrating z-order layout optimization by reassigning z-indices based on areas size.

zorder layout optimization
Python
class ZOrderLayout:
    """
    Minimal mock for z-order layout optimization using a stacking score.
    Elements overlap; higher z_index is drawn on top.
    """
    def __init__(self):
        self.elements = []

    def add_element(self, name, area, z_index):
        self.elements.append({"name": name, "area": area…
12 0 Open

Browse by section

Each section groups closely related Python snippets.

Big data & Spark — Python code examples

What you will find here

This page collects big data & spark snippets — short, copy-ready Python you can paste into our free online IDE and run without installing anything. Each sample includes a plain-English explanation and the full source code.

Samples vs tutorials and challenges

Samples are quick reference — one concept per page. For step-by-step teaching, use our Python tutorials. To test yourself, try quizzes or coding challenges. Clean up style with the Python formatter.