Trino On Ice I: A Gentle Introduction To Iceberg

The blog post introduces Apache Iceberg as a modern table format that addresses the challenges posed by the traditional Hive table format, particularly in the context of data lakes and the Trino query engine. Unlike Hive, which relies on a set of unwritten specifications and conventions that complicate data management and integration, Iceberg offers a clear, structured approach to handling relational table formats. It simplifies the process of partitioning data by enabling hidden partitioning, where the partitioning logic is handled internally without requiring additional fields or complex user inputs. This streamlines the creation and querying of partitioned tables, eliminating the errors and inefficiencies often encountered with Hive. The post serves as the first in a series exploring Iceberg’s features and improvements over Hive, positioning Iceberg as a superior solution for modern data warehousing needs.