What does ETL stand for in data engineering?

The term ETL stands for Extract, Transform, Load, which is a crucial process in data engineering and data integration workflows.

In this context, the "Extract" phase involves retrieving data from various source systems, which can include databases, flat files, APIs, and more. This initial step is vital for gathering the necessary raw data that will be processed and analyzed.

The "Transform" phase refers to the manipulation and processing of the extracted data into a suitable format or structure for analysis. This may involve data cleaning, aggregating, filtering, and applying business rules to ensure that the data is accurate and usable.

Finally, the "Load" phase involves taking the transformed data and loading it into a target system, typically a data warehouse or a data lake. This step completes the ETL process by making the data available for querying, reporting, and analysis.

Each part of the ETL process is essential for ensuring that data is prepared correctly for downstream applications, enabling organizations to make data-driven decisions effectively. The other options provided do not represent widely recognized processes in data engineering, making them incorrect in the context of ETL terminology.