Data flow - Process
ETL
(Extract, Transform, Load)
Taking data out of one place, reshaping it, then loading it somewhere else for use or analysis
What's it for?
Takes data from one place, cleans or reshapes it and puts it somewhere useful for reporting or analysis.
For example…
Staff data is exported, reshaped for payroll, then loaded for reporting
An ETL process extracts customer and order data, cleans and joins it, then loads ready-to-report tables into the warehouse overnight
Think of it like…
ETL is like importing photos: you pull them off cameras (extract), crop and rename (transform), then save them into one album everyone uses (load)