dbt transforms data inside your warehouse using SQL.
How it works:
You write SELECT statements (models)
dbt wraps them in CREATE TABLE/VIEW
dbt handles dependencies and ordering
dbt runs tests and generates docs
The ELT pattern:
- Extract: Fivetran/Airbyte loads raw data
- Load: Data lands in warehouse
- Transform: dbt transforms in-warehouse
Why ELT won: Cloud warehouses are cheap and fast. Transform where compute is abundant.