This week on The Data Stack Show, John Wessel and Matt Kelliher-Gibson dive into the recent Duck Lake announcement, exploring the evolving landscape of data analytics technologies. They discuss DuckDB's role as a lightweight, local analytics database and its potential as a caching layer for open table formats like Iceberg. The conversation also highlights the current state of data storage standards, focusing on agreements around Parquet and Iceberg, while noting the ongoing complexity in catalog management. Key takeaways include the importance of local compute solutions, the early stage of open table formats, and the potential for simplified data infrastructure that can provide faster, more cost-effective analytics workflows. The episode underscores the ongoing innovation in data technologies and the need for more streamlined, flexible data management solutions. Don’t miss it!

Highlights from this week’s conversation include:

• Discussion on Duck Lake Announcement (1:41)
• Compatibility with Apache Iceberg (4:05)
• Use Cases for DuckDB (6:23)
• Concerns About Data Management (10:01)
• Introduction to Data Formats (11:40)
• Catalog Space Challenges (13:13)
• Metadata Orchestration (14:54)
• Simplicity in Data Management (15:25)
• SQL Demo Discussion (17:26)
• Wrap-Up and Final Thoughts (18:44)

The Data Stack Show is a weekly podcast powered by RudderStack, customer data infrastructure that enables you to deliver real-time customer event data everywhere it’s needed to power smarter decisions and better customer experiences. Each week, we’ll talk to data engineers, analysts, and data scientists about their experience around building and maintaining data infrastructure, delivering data and data products, and driving better outcomes across their businesses with data.

RudderStack helps businesses make the most out of their customer data while ensuring data privacy and security. To learn more about RudderStack visit rudderstack.com.