Azure Data Factory
Azure Data Factory is a cloud-based data integration service that allows you to create data-driven workflows for orchestrating and automating data movement and data transformation. It enables you to build complex ETL (Extract, Transform, Load) and ELT (Extract, Load, Transform) pipelines that can ingest data from disparate sources, process it, and output it to various destinations. The service supports both code-free visual design and programmatic development, integrating with other Azure services and on-premises data sources.
Developers should learn Azure Data Factory when building data pipelines in the Azure ecosystem, especially for scenarios requiring scalable, serverless data integration across cloud and on-premises environments. It is ideal for ETL/ELT processes, data migration projects, and orchestrating big data workflows, as it simplifies data ingestion from sources like databases, files, and SaaS applications, and transforms data using Azure Databricks or HDInsight. Use cases include building data lakes, data warehousing solutions, and real-time analytics pipelines where automation and monitoring are critical.