Distributed Data Processing Engine

Distributed Data Processing Engine

Spark expertise remains the #1 required skill in data engineering job postings. Whether you're running on Databricks, AWS EMR, Snowflake, or Kubernetes, Spark is the universal backbone. With PySpark, you can go from zero to production-grade pipelines in days using just Python.
Master Spark once — and you’ll own the future of big data.

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Research paper that started it

Apache Spark Tutorial for Beginners

The 2026 Apache Spark Master Curriculum

35+ Lessons structured to take you from beginner to performance expert.

Week 1: Core Foundations & Internals

Architecture & Distributed Logic

Introduction to Apache Spark (2025) Architecture Made Simple: Driver, Executors, DAG Spark Session, Context, & Driver Explained Spark DAG: The Hidden Blueprint Jobs, Stages & Tasks: The Real Story

Low-Level Foundation (RDDs)

Understanding RDDs & Shared Variables Spark RDDs Deep Dive 2025 Broadcast Variables & Accumulators

Week 2: Relational Mastery (SQL & DataFrames)

The Structured API

Structured APIs - DataFrames, SQL, Datasets Transformations & Actions (Lazy Evaluation) RDD vs DataFrame vs Dataset: Complete Guide PySpark vs Pandas – When to Switch

Data I/O & Connectors

Reading & Writing – CSV, JSON, Parquet, JDBC Advanced Connectors (Kafka/NoSQL) [Coming Soon]

Week 3: Performance Toolbox (Part I)

Memory, Partitioning & Caching

Caching & Persistence: cache() vs persist() Repartition vs. Coalesce: Key Differences Spark Memory Management [Coming Next Week] Performance Tuning Tips & Techniques Direct Factors Affecting Performance Indirect Factors Affecting Performance

Week 4: Optimization Engine (AQE & Catalyst)

Under the Hood

Execution Plans: Catalyst Deep Dive Catalyst & Tungsten – Why Spark is Fast Spark AQE: Runtime Optimization Framework DataFrame Deep Dive: Real World AQE

Week 5: Modern Lakehouse & Delta Lake

ACID Storage

Delta Lake Internals: Transaction Log [Coming Soon] Z-Ordering & Data Skipping [Coming Soon] SCD Type 2 in Delta Lake [Coming Soon]

Expert Tip: Week 5 focuses on shifting from Parquet to Delta Lake for ACID compliance in production.

Week 6: Structured Streaming

Real-Time Spark

Streaming – Real-Time Processing Made Easy [Coming Soon] Fundamentals: Design & Use Cases Core Concepts & Transformations How to Handle I/O in Streaming Streaming Practices for Production

Bonus: Production, Debugging & Careers

Running in the Real World

How to Run Spark in Production Running Applications on a Cluster Developing Production Grade Spark Apps Choosing the Right Cluster Manager Monitoring Post-Production Activities Debugging Spark: A Practical Guide

Career Excellence

Top 50 PySpark Interview Q&A 2025