Complete PySpark Tutorial | Learn PySpark from Basics to Advanced Step-by-Step
https://youtu.be/1J7qZ5SNGaQ?si=vIiTxx-QCA5BoYAS
1. What is PySpark?
- PySpark is the Python API for Apache Spark, used for big data processing and analytics.
- Spark is a general-purpose, in-memory computation engine.
- General-purpose: You can do multiple types of data tasks (cleaning, querying, ML, etc.) in
Spark, not just one thing.
- In-memory: Spark processes data in RAM (fast), not just from hard disks (slow like
MapReduce).
- Computation engine: Spark’s main job is to process data, not store it.
Why use Spark over Hadoop MapReduce?
- In Hadoop, data goes repeatedly from disk to disk.
- In Spark, once data is loaded, most processing happens in memory, making it much faster (up
to 100x).
2. Spark’s Advantages
- Speed: Much faster than MapReduce (in-memory, fewer disk reads/writes).
- Developer-Friendly: Supports APIs in Python, Scala, Java; writing distributed code is easier.
- Supports Multiple Workloads: Interactive SQL, real-time stream processing, machine learning,
graph processing—all in one.
3. Spark Architecture Overview
- Master-Slave Architecture:
- Cluster = group of computers (“nodes”) working together.
- Master node: Coordinates jobs.
- Worker nodes: Do the actual computation.
- Distributed Processing: Tasks are split across several nodes for faster results.
Example:
If 1 worker takes 5 days for a dashboard, 5 workers can finish in 1 day each - parallel
processing.
How Job Scheduling Works
- Driver program: Entry point, creates the Spark context.
- Cluster manager: Allocates resources (memory, CPUs) across nodes.
- Driver splits your code into jobs and tasks, then sends them to worker nodes (executors).
4. RDD (Resilient Distributed Dataset)
- RDD is Spark’s core data structure.
- Resilient: If a part fails, Spark can recompute it from its “lineage” (history).
- Distributed: Data is split across many nodes.
- Dataset: Collection of objects/data you process.
RDD Operations:
1. Transformations:
- e.g., `map`, `filter`
- Do NOT immediately compute; just build a plan (DAG).
2. Actions:
- e.g., `collect`, `count`
- Trigger the computation and bring results back.
Lazy Evaluation
- Nothing happens until you call an Action. Spark remembers all transformations and executes
them together—it’s efficient.
5. DAG (Directed Acyclic Graph) & Lazy Evaluation
- Spark builds a DAG from your transformations. This explains the execution plan and
dependencies.
- Lazy evaluation: Spark only processes data when you run an action (ex: `collect()`, `count()`).
Transformations are just registered until then.
6. Setting Up Databricks with PySpark
- Databricks provides a free Community Edition for Spark practice in the cloud.
- Sign up at Databricks Community Edition.
- Create a cluster (compute): can use up to 15GB RAM for free, but clusters terminate after
1-2 hours. Just spin up a new one.
Uploading Data
- You can upload CSV/JSON files and easily create tables/dataframes.
- Two ways to create data tables:
1. Use notebook and PySpark code.
2. Use the UI to upload and set schema/columns.
7. DataFrames in PySpark
- DataFram*: More user-friendly, structured version of RDDs.
- Easy transformations like `.select()`, `.withColumn()`, `.filter()`, `.drop()`, `.sort()`, `.groupBy()`,
`.join()`, `.union()`, `.fillna()`.
- Handle various file types: CSV, JSON, Parquet.
- DataFrames are the most common way to work with data in PySpark.
8. PySpark SQL
- Use Spark SQL to run SQL queries on your DataFrames or tables.
- You can create “views” or temporary tables from DataFrames and write SQL to
manipulate/join/filter data.
. More Topics Covered
- StructType: Define custom DataFrame schemas.
- Pivot/Unpivot: Reshape data.
- User Defined Functions (UDFs): Write custom Python functions to use inside DataFrames.
- Window Functions: Calculations across rows related to the current one.
- Partitioning: Split data for optimized processing.
- Cache vs. Persist: Control how/if data stays in memory.
- Explode: Flatten arrays/structs in columns.
10. Practice Projects & Real Interview Q&A
- Several real-world use-cases and projects are included.
- Multiple frequently asked PySpark interview questions are explained.
11. Tips for Self-Practice
- For hands-on:
- Use Databricks Community Edition (free) or install Spark locally.
- Upload sample files and test transformations/actions.
- Practice building RDDs, then DataFrames, try SQL too.
- Use documentation and “cheat sheets” for PySpark syntax.
- Focus on understanding DAGs, transformations vs actions, DataFrame APIs, and basic cluster
resource concepts.
