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 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 a Streaming Watermark in Python
Mock structured streaming watermarks in Python to track late event times and compute a watermark for windowed processing.
from datetime import datetime, timedelta
import time
class StreamingWatermark:
"""Mock watermark tracker for structured streaming."""
def __init__(self, watermark_delay_seconds):
self.watermark_delay = timedelta(seconds=watermark_delay_seconds)
self.max_event_time = None
def observe_even…
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 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 Spark Streaming Micro-Batches in Python
Simulate Spark's micro-batch streaming with a simple deque-based class that collects events over time and processes them in timed batches.
import time
from collections import deque
from datetime import datetime
class MicroBatchStream:
def __init__(self, batch_interval_sec=2):
self.batch_interval = batch_interval_sec
self.source = deque()
self.processed = []
def add_events(self, events):
self.source.extend(events…
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 Compute-Collect Action Trigger in Python
Mock a compute-collect action trigger using Python's unittest.mock to simulate Spark-style job execution and assert trigger behavior.
Here's a Python code sample for the problem title "Action trigger compute collect mock":
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 UDAF Aggregate Function in Python
This code provides a minimal mock of a User-Defined Aggregate Function (UDAF), simulating the initialize-update-merge-finalize lifecycle with a defaultdict counter.
from collections import defaultdict
class MockUDAF:
"""A minimal mock of a User-Defined Aggregate Function.
Simulates aggregate lifecycle: initialize, update per row,
and finalize the result.
"""
def __init__(self):
self._buffer = defaultdict(int)
def initialize(self):
"""Re…
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 use foreachBatch with a mock sink in PySpark
Demonstrates using Spark Structured Streaming's foreachBatch sink to capture and verify streaming batches by writing them into a custom mock sink object.
from pyspark.sql import SparkSession
from pyspark.sql.functions import col, lit
class MockSink:
def __init__(self):
self.batches = []
def write_batch(self, batch_df, batch_id):
# Collect batch data as list of dicts for verification
records = batch_df.collect()
self.batches…
Mock RDD in Python: Simulate Spark RDD Lazy Transformations
Simulate Apache Spark RDD behavior in Python with lazy maps, filters, partitions, and a collect action.
import random
def mock_rdd(data, num_slices=2):
"""
A simple simulation of Spark RDD behavior with lazy evaluation,
transformations, and an action.
"""
class SimpleRDD:
def __init__(self, data, num_slices=2):
self.data = data
self.num_slices = num_slices
…
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…
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