Track · 2:30 · Liner note
Extract, Load, Exhale
ELT, extract, load, transform, copies source data into the warehouse first and transforms it there, unlike ETL, which transforms data before loading it.
Copy first, reshape later. ELT flips the old ETL order: extract from the source, load the data into the warehouse as it arrived, then transform it with the warehouse’s own engine. Extract, Load, Exhale is the relief of separating the steps, since a failed transform no longer means a failed extraction.
It works because modern warehouses are cheap to store in and strong at SQL. The cost is discipline: keep raw tables immutable, version your transformations and watch what sits in landing areas, sensitive columns included.