How to Build a Real ETL Pipeline
Step-by-step guide to building a production ETL pipeline.
Dec 10, 202515 min read|DataForge
Building a real ETL pipeline is different from tutorials. Here's what production systems need.
Architecture Overview
Source -> Extract -> Transform -> Load -> Serve. Simple in concept, complex in execution.
Key Components
Extraction: Handle API limits, retries, and partial failures.
Transformation: Clean, validate, and enrich data.
Loading: Incremental loads, upserts, and schema evolution.