Snapshot reference

Q: How deeply does Architecting an Apache Iceberg Lakehouse cover snapshot reference?

Defines branches and tags, explains their lifecycle roles, and stops short of cross-table isolation.

As explained in Architecting an Apache Iceberg Lakehouse

A snapshot reference is a named pointer to a particular table snapshot.

A snapshot reference is a named pointer to a particular Apache Iceberg table snapshot. Tags remain fixed, while branches can advance as new snapshots are added. section 11.2.2

Use snapshot references to:

Bookmark a known-good release for reproducible reporting or downstream jobs. section 11.2.2
Isolate development or QA changes through branches that advance with new snapshots. section 11.2.2
Tie snapshot retention and garbage collection to references rather than raw timestamps. section 11.2.2

SELECT ref_name, type, snapshot_id, max_reference_age_in_ms
FROM "db "."critical_fact_table.refs ";

Inspect a table’s refs table to list reference names, types, target snapshots, and maximum reference ages. section 11.2.2

How Architecting an Apache Iceberg Lakehouse covers it

Cover of Architecting an Apache Iceberg Lakehouse

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Related concepts

tagincludes · An Apache Iceberg tag is a named, immutable reference to a table snapshot that can protect that snapshot from expiration.
Iceberg branchincludes · An Iceberg branch is a named reference to a table snapshot that supports independent versioned table-state progression.
branching and taggingused by · Branching and tagging is a version-reference technique that isolates mutable data changes and names stable data states.

This explainer was generated by Manning's knowledge graph from the text of Architecting an Apache Iceberg Lakehouse. The section links point to the parts of the book it draws on.