Big data & Spark
PySpark jobs, partitioning, batch processing, and large-dataset transform patterns.
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.
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…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 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 a Catalyst Logical Plan in Python
Build a small Python class that mimics Spark Catalyst's logical plan tree for teaching or testing query optimizations.
from typing import Any, Dict, List, Optional
class CatalystLogicalPlan:
"""A minimal mock of Catalyst's logical plan for teaching purposes."""
def __init__(self, node_type: str, **kwargs: Any) -> None:
self.node_type = node_type
self.attributes: Dict[str, Any] = kwargs
self.child…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 Parquet partitionBy Sink in Python
Manually write a DataFrame to partitioned Parquet files, mimicking Spark's partitionBy sink behavior without Spark.
import pyarrow as pa
import pyarrow.parquet as pq
from pathlib import Path
import tempfile
import shutil
def mock_partition_by_sink(data, output_dir, partition_cols):
table = pa.Table.from_pandas(data)
schema = table.schema
unique_combos = table.select(partition_cols).to_pylist()
seen = set()
for…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, *…HyperLogLog Cardinality Estimation in Python
A small HyperLogLog implementation using MD5 hashing and 256 registers to estimate the number of unique items in a large stream with fixed memory.
import hashlib
import math
class HyperLogLog:
def __init__(self, b=8):
self.b = b
self.m = 1 << b
self.registers = [0] * self.m
self.alpha = 0.7213 / (1 + 1.079 / self.m)
def add(self, item):
h = int(hashlib.md5(str(item).encode()).hexdigest(), 16)
idx = h & (s…Skew Join Salting Key in Python (Demo)
Demonstrates skew join salting by expanding a smaller side with salt keys and matching rows on the larger side via random salt assignment.
import random
def skew_join_salting_key(left_df, right_df, salt_range=4):
"""
Demonstrates skew join salting: expand the smaller side with salt keys,
then attach a salt key to each row on the larger side.
Returns a list of (left, right, salt) tuples.
"""
skewed_left = []
for row in left_d…Browse by section
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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.
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