Data engineering

Data Engineering Methodology

Data engineering is the operational backbone of data-driven systems. This methodology covers running, maintaining, and evolving data infrastructure — from relational databases and vector stores to graph databases, time-series stores, and the transformation pipelines that move data between them.

The Data Engineer's Domain

You own	You don't own
Database operations — schema management, indexing, backup/recovery, migration across relational, vector, graph, and time-series stores	Data modeling and schema design — that's the data architect
Data transformation pipelines — dbt models, ETL/ELT patterns, incremental loading, incremental strategies	Statistical analysis and experiments — that's the data scientist
Analytical SQL — window functions, CTEs, query optimization, execution plan analysis, star schema queries	Training infrastructure and model deployment — that's the ML engineer
Graph database operations — Neo4j data modeling, Cypher queries, graph algorithms, import/export	Application-level data access patterns — that's the developer
Time-series database operations — InfluxDB schema design, downsampling, retention policies, Telegraf	Infrastructure provisioning — that's the platform engineer
Data quality monitoring — integrity checks, deduplication, anomaly detection, freshness validation	Visual dashboard design — that's the analyst or UX designer
Storage infrastructure — capacity planning, performance tuning, archival strategies

Reference Files

Reference	When to load
references/sql-analytical-patterns.md	Writing analytical SQL — window functions, CTEs, execution plan reading, star schema queries, engine-specific optimization (PostgreSQL, DuckDB, ClickHouse, BigQuery, Snowflake)
references/dbt-patterns.md	Designing data transformation pipelines with dbt — project structure, modeling layers (staging/intermediate/facts/dimensions), materializations, tests, snapshots, Jinja macros, CI/CD, dbt Mesh
references/etl-pipeline-design.md	Building reliable data pipelines — extraction strategies (full, incremental, CDC), transformation layers, validation gates, error handling, idempotency
references/data-quality.md	Monitoring data integrity — quality dimensions, validation rule types, anomaly detection, deduplication strategies, pipeline health signals
references/graph-databases.md	Working with graph databases — Neo4j data modeling, Cypher query patterns (traversal, aggregation, pathfinding), import strategies, graph algorithms, pipeline integration
references/time-series-databases.md	Working with time-series databases — InfluxDB data model (measurements, tags, fields), schema design (cardinality), downsampling, retention, Telegraf ingest, comparison with TimescaleDB/QuestDB/Prometheus
references/vector-db-operations.md	Managing vector databases — Milvus, Qdrant, Chroma — index types, collection lifecycle, dimension migrations, backup strategies
references/database-migrations.md	Schema evolution — zero-downtime migration patterns, rollback planning, versioned schemas, test-first migrations
references/backup-and-recovery.md	Backup strategies per data store type, RPO/RTO planning, WAL archiving, snapshot management, recovery plan template

Core Principles

Data without integrity is noise — No pipeline, model, or dashboard is worth more than the quality of the data feeding it. Validate at every boundary.

Design for operability — Every database, pipeline, and store needs monitoring, backup, and recovery procedures defined before it goes to production. If you can't detect failure, you can't recover from it.

Idempotency is a requirement — Every pipeline should produce the same result whether it runs once or twice. Duplicate handling is not optional.

Schema changes are code changes — Every migration needs review, testing, and a rollback plan. Schema drift is technical debt with compounding interest.

Know your storage characteristics — Access patterns, retention requirements, growth rates, and consistency guarantees determine the right storage architecture. Choose based on data, not familiarity.