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Add docs comparing Airflow and dbt concepts
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Also fix Sphinx duplicated reference
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tatiana committed Sep 14, 2023
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2 changes: 1 addition & 1 deletion docs/configuration/lineage.rst
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Expand Up @@ -26,7 +26,7 @@ Otherwise, install Cosmos using ``astronomer-cosmos[openlineage]``.
Configuration
-------------

If using Airflow 2.7, follow `these instructions <https://airflow.apache.org/docs/apache-airflow-providers-openlineage/1.0.2/guides/user.html>`_ on how to configure OpenLineage.
If using Airflow 2.7, follow `the instructions <https://airflow.apache.org/docs/apache-airflow-providers-openlineage/1.0.2/guides/user.html>`_ on how to configure OpenLineage.

Otherwise, follow `these instructions <https://openlineage.io/docs/integrations/airflow/>`_.

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34 changes: 34 additions & 0 deletions docs/getting_started/dbt-airflow-concepts.rst
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.. _dbt-airflow-concepts:

Similar dbt & Airflow concepts
==============================

While dbt is an open source tool for data transformations and analysis, using SQL, Airflow focuses on being a platform
for the development, scheduling and monitoring of batch-oriented workflows, using Python. Although both tools have many
differences, they also share similar concepts.

This page aims to list some of these concepts and help those
who may be new to Airflow or dbt and are considering to use Cosmos.


+----------------+--------------+---------------------------------------------------------------------------------+-----------------------------------------------------------------------------+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Airflow naming | dbt naming | Description | Differences | References |
+================+==============+=================================================================================+=============================================================================+======================================================================================+
| DAG | Workflow | Pipeline (Direct Acyclic Graph) that contains a group of steps | Airflow expects upstream tasks to have passed to run downstream tasks. | https://airflow.apache.org/docs/apache-airflow/2.7.1/core-concepts/dags.html |
| | | | dbt can run a subset of tasks assuming upstream tasks were run. | https://docs.getdbt.com/docs/introduction |
+----------------+--------------+---------------------------------------------------------------------------------+-----------------------------------------------------------------------------+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Task | Node | Step within a pipeline (DAG or workflow) | In dbt, users write mostly SQL and YML to define the steps of a pipeline. | https://docs.getdbt.com/reference/node-selection/syntax |
| | | | Airflow expects steps to be written in Python. | https://airflow.apache.org/docs/apache-airflow/2.7.1/core-concepts/tasks.html |
+----------------+--------------+---------------------------------------------------------------------------------+-----------------------------------------------------------------------------+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Variables | Variables | Key-value configuration that can be used in steps and avoids hard-coded values | | https://docs.getdbt.com/docs/build/project-variables |
| | | | | https://airflow.apache.org/docs/apache-airflow/2.7.1/core-concepts/variables.html |
+----------------+--------------+---------------------------------------------------------------------------------+-----------------------------------------------------------------------------+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Templating | Macros | Jinja templating used to access variables, configuration and reference steps | dbt encourages using jinja templating for control structures (if and for). | https://docs.getdbt.com/docs/build/jinja-macros |
| | | | Airflow usage is limited to variables, macros and filters | https://airflow.apache.org/docs/apache-airflow/stable/templates-ref.html |
+----------------+--------------+---------------------------------------------------------------------------------+-----------------------------------------------------------------------------+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Connection | Profile | Configuration to connect to databases or other services | | https://airflow.apache.org/docs/apache-airflow/stable/howto/connection.html |
| | | | | https://docs.getdbt.com/docs/core/connect-data-platform/connection-profiles |
+----------------+--------------+---------------------------------------------------------------------------------+-----------------------------------------------------------------------------+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Providers | Adapter | Additional Python libraries that support specific databases or services | | https://airflow.apache.org/docs/apache-airflow-providers/ |
| | | | | https://docs.getdbt.com/guides/dbt-ecosystem/adapter-development/1-what-are-adapters |
+----------------+--------------+---------------------------------------------------------------------------------+-----------------------------------------------------------------------------+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
7 changes: 7 additions & 0 deletions docs/getting_started/index.rst
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Execution Modes <execution-modes>
Docker Execution Mode <docker>
Kubernetes Execution Mode <kubernetes>
dbt and Airflow Similar Concepts <dbt-airflow-concepts>


Getting Started
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- `Executing dbt DAGs with Docker Operators <docker.html>`__
- `Executing dbt DAGs with KubernetesPodOperators <kubernetes.html>`__


Concepts Overview
-----------------

How do dbt and Airflow concepts map to each other? Learn more `in this link <dbt-airflow-concepts.html>`__.

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