Overview

Overview what is dbt, why and when it is/isn't useful.

What is `dbt`?

dbt means data build tool.
It's open-source software.
Runs in the terminal.

Why it's useful?

dbt (data build tool) makes your data pipelines more efficient and reliable:

It helps you to transform, test, and document data.
It encourages best practices from software engineering, e.g. version control, CI/CD.

When it's most useful

When you need to transform raw data in your data warehouse into a more usable state for analysis.

When it's not so useful

When your data transformation is simple, and doesn't need to scale.
When your team isn't comfortable with SQL or command-line interfaces.
When your data is not stored in a SQL-based data warehouse.