Course Wiki

Analytics Engineering — Data Engineering Zoomcamp Module 4

Module overview and materials for Analytics Engineering.

Data Engineering Zoomcamp › Module 4: Analytics Engineering › Analytics Engineering

Notes

Module 4: Analytics Engineering

Goal: Transforming the data loaded in DWH into Analytical Views developing a dbt project.

Prerequisites

The prerequisites depend on which setup path you choose:

For Cloud Setup (BigQuery):

• Completed Module 3: Data Warehouse with:
  • A GCP project with BigQuery enabled
  • Service account with BigQuery permissions
  • NYC taxi data loaded into BigQuery (yellow and green taxi data for 2019-2020)

For Local Setup (DuckDB):

• No prerequisites! The local setup guide will walk you through downloading and loading the data.

[!NOTE] This module focuses on yellow and green taxi data (2019-2020). While Module 3 may have included FHV data, it is not used in this dbt project.

Setting up your environment

Choose your setup path:

🏠 Local Setup

• Stack: DuckDB + dbt Core
• Cost: Free
• → Get Started

☁️ Cloud Setup

• Stack: BigQuery + dbt Cloud
• Cost: Free tier available (dbt Cloud Developer), BigQuery costs vary
• Requires: Completed Module 3 with BigQuery data
• → Get Started

Content

Introduction to Analytics Engineering

Introduction to data modeling

What is dbt?

Differences between dbt Core and dbt Cloud

Project Setup

dbt Course

Troubleshooting

• DuckDB Troubleshooting Guide — If you’re getting OOM errors during dbt build with DuckDB

Extra resources

[!NOTE] If you find the videos above overwhelming, we recommend completing the dbt Fundamentals course and then rewatching the module. It provides a solid foundation for all the key concepts you need in this module.

SQL refresher

The homework for this module focuses heavily on window functions and CTEs. If you need a refresher on these topics, you can refer to these notes.

• SQL refresher

Homework

• 2026 Homework

Community notes