Open Table Formats
Two jobs write to the same table at the same moment and one silently overwrites the other's data — no error, just missing rows in tomorrow's report. Object storage has no transactions; open table formats bolt them on.
This stratum goes inside Iceberg and Delta Lake: snapshots and manifest lists, snapshot isolation and optimistic concurrency, hidden partitioning, time travel, and the catalogs that coordinate everything — including the exact conditions where “ACID on a data lake” quietly stops holding.
What you'll learn
- Trace an Iceberg write through metadata, manifest lists, and snapshots
- Explain snapshot isolation and when concurrent writes conflict (or silently don't)
- Compare Iceberg and Delta Lake on partitioning, time travel, and catalog design
- Reason about compaction, snapshot expiry, and table maintenance
Tracks & courses
Full navigation is in the sidebar. Here's what each track gives you and the courses inside it.
Iceberg Foundations
Learn the table format from the ground up — why data lakes were broken, and how Iceberg fixes it.
Related topics
Start Open Table Formats free
The first chapters of every course are free to read — no account needed.