Data Lineage
Data lineage is a concept in data management that tracks the flow of data from its origin through various transformations, processes, and systems to its final destination. It provides a visual or documented representation of how data moves and changes across an organization, including its sources, transformations, and dependencies. This helps ensure data quality, compliance, and understanding of data provenance.
Developers should learn data lineage to enhance data governance, debugging, and impact analysis in data-intensive applications. It is crucial for regulatory compliance (e.g., GDPR, HIPAA), troubleshooting data pipelines, and understanding how changes in source systems affect downstream reports or models. Use cases include data warehousing, ETL processes, and big data analytics where traceability is essential.