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In the ever-changing realm of data analytics, SQL continues to be a stalwart tool for data exploration and reasoning. Yet, in today’s world, it is scarcely enough to simply ‘crunch’ the numbers. Better yet, visualizing your data can confer insights that are otherwise obscure and hard to grasp. Our spotlight today is on Databricks SQL and how to employ it in creating interactive dashboards for data visualization.
What is Databricks SQL?
Databricks SQL, previously known as Databricks SQL Analytics, is aimed at analysts and data scientists who communicate insights to business stakeholders. It offers a workspace optimized for SQL workloads, allowing rapid exploration and sharing of data and insights via visualizations and dashboards.
Setup
After setting up and starting your Databricks SQL instance, you can access it via the user interface by clicking on “SQL” located on the sidebar.
Creating a Dashboard
Under the queries section, you can write and execute SQL queries. Here is an example of a basic SQL query:
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SELECT customer_id, sum(total_payment) total FROM sales GROUP BY customer_id ORDER BY total DESC LIMIT 10 |
This SQL query will display the top 10 customers by total payments made.
Visualizing the Data
After executing the query, you can easily visualize the data by clicking on the “Plot Options..” button. A dialog enables you to choose the type of plot you wish to generate (bar graph, scatter plot, pie chart, etc.). It also allows you to define the ‘values’ and ‘keys’ of the visualization based on the query result’s column names. Let’s visualize our previous query as a bar chart:
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-- Query stays the same, visualization changes SELECT customer_id, sum(total_payment) total FROM sales GROUP BY customer_id ORDER BY total DESC LIMIT 10 |
The visual results can be saved to a dashboard by clicking on the “Add to Dashboard” button within the visualization panel.
Conclusion
Databricks SQL provides an intuitive interface for data querying and exploration, and, in combination with robust visualization options, allows for efficient and effective data storytelling. Whether you’re a data analyst, a data scientist, or simply a data aficionado, understanding Databricks SQL for data visualization is a powerful tool in your arsenal.