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What is DBT? Introduction to the data modelling tool

DBT (Data Build Tool) is an essential tool for transforming and modelling data in modern data warehouses. It enables data teams to work in a collaborative, versioned and best-practice-oriented way.

DBT in a nutshell

DBT (Data Build Tool) is an open source framework that makes it easier to data transformation in cloud warehouses (Snowflake, BigQuery, Redshift, Databricks). Unlike traditional ETL tools, DBT focuses on the T (Transform) pipeline. It allows you to write modular, versioned and documented SQL queries, applying software engineering best practice.

An approach centred on SQL and modularity

DBT is mainly based on SQL enriched by the Jinja templating language. The transformations are organised into reusable models that run directly in the data warehouse. This approach avoids duplication of code, simplifies maintenance and speeds up the release of data pipelines.

Collaboration and best practice

One of DBT's great strengths is that it introduces practices from software development into data:

Git versioning to work together effectively,
automated tests to guarantee data quality,
integrated documentation and generated automatically,
CI/CD to validate and deploy the models.
This allows data teams to work in a more efficient way. agile, reliable and collaborative.

DBT use cases

DBT is particularly useful in modern cloud data warehouse. Its use cases include :

the creation of clean, reliable intermediate tables,
the implementation of reusable business models,
automation of recurring transformations, standardisation of analytical pipelines.

It is proving to be a central tool for data engineering and analytics engineering.

Recent developments

DBT has gained in popularity thanks to its simplicity and widespread adoption in the data ecosystem. The company behind the tool now offers DBT Clouda SaaS version with a user interface, integrated orchestrator and advanced monitoring functions. In 2024, DBT will continue to set the standard for structuring data transformations in modern architecture.

DBT is much more than a simple SQL tool: it's a methodological framework which enables data transformation and modelling to be professionalised.
By introducing modularity, collaboration and good development practice, it helps businesses to make their pipelines more reliable and their data truly exploitable.
For any organisation wishing to build a strategy data-driven solidDBT is now an essential tool.