This is a tutorial on how to import data (with fixed lenght) in Apache Hive (in Hortonworks Data Platform 2.6.1). The idea is that any non-Hive, non-Hadoop savvy people can follow along, so let me know if I succeeded (make sure you don’t look like comment spam though. I’m getting a lot of that lately, even though they never pass my approval).
Intro
Currently I’m studying for the Hortonworks Data Platform Certified Developer: Spark using Python exam (or HDPCD: Spark using Python). One part of the exam objectives is using SQL in Spark. Along the way you also work with Hive, the data warehouse software in Hadoop.
I was following the free Udemy HDPCD Spark using Python preparation course by ITVersity. The course is good BTW, especially for the price :). But after playing along with the Core Spark videos, the course again used the same boring revenue data for the Spark SQL part. And I thought: “I know SQL pretty well. Why not use data that is a bit more interesting?” And so I downloaded the Minor Planet Center’s asteroid data. This contains all the known asteroids until at least yesterday. At this moment, that is about 745.000 lines of data. (more…)