How much of Talend functionality is translated in SQL-Query and how much in Java?

Question

I am facing an internship and they asked me to learn how to use talend ETL. I did it, not so difficult. One of the extra-tasks that have been assigned to me is to verify how much of the operations I set on the design workspace is executed in java and what is done through the use of queries. I've set up a simple Join using the TMap component and I monitored the SQLdatabase through the use of SQL Profiler. the result is that only the essential create/drop and the select/insert of the table is done via sql while every other thing like the actual join is made "Java" side. As long as it is an simple operation like join, wouldn't it be convenient to execute it through a query without having to bother java to perform it? For those who also know SAP, in terms of performance is there so much difference between Talend and SAP?

Answer 1

Only operations in tDB components (create,select,insert, etc) are actually done through SQL. All operations done in other talend components (tMap, tFilter, aggregate, etc) are done through java. Indeed you'll have better performances doing operations SQL-side. You then have to find the right balance between an "all-in-sql" type of job and an "all-java" one. (it could be harder for a talend developer to debug operations if all the sql part is done through a unique query inside a single component...).

You could definitely have your joins inside a tDBInput component, and output the result in a single output flow. You can also check ELT* components : they let you use SQL-engine instead of java-engine to perform all operations (join,aggregate,filter) while using a talend interface.