To get the most out of this book

This book is about Databricks SQL as an enabler for your business intelligence practice. Hence, the book assumes knowledge of standard SQL and business intelligence concepts. Basic knowledge of data warehouses and data lakes is recommended, but it is not mandatory. Some chapters, such as Chapter 8, The Delta Lake, and Chapter 9, The Photon Engine, assume some familiarity with Apache Spark and some data engineering constructs. That said, they are optional, deep-dive chapters and do not affect your learning of Databricks SQL.

Software/hardware covered in the book	Operating system requirements
Databricks SQL	Windows, macOS, or Linux

Databricks SQL is a Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS) offering and is accessible via any modern internet browser. It does not require any installation on your machine.

If you are using the digital version of this book, we advise you to type the code yourself or access the code from the book’s GitHub repository (a link is available in the next section). Doing so will help you avoid any potential errors related to the copying and pasting of code.