A comprehensive guide to becoming a data engineer with learning paths, essential technologies, certifications, and resources
- 🎯 Overview
- 🗺️ Learning Roadmaps
- 🛠️ Technologies & Tools
- 🎓 Certifications
- 📚 Resources
- 📖 References
- 💼 Interview Experiences
This repository provides a complete data engineering roadmap curated from industry experts, including a comprehensive learning path, essential technologies, professional certifications, and valuable resources. Whether you're starting your journey or looking to advance your career, this roadmap will guide you through every step of becoming a proficient data engineer.
- 📊 Learning Roadmaps - Step-by-step guides from industry experts
- 🔧 Technology Stack - Essential tools and frameworks organized by category
- 🏆 Certifications - Professional certifications from AWS, GCP, Azure, Snowflake, Databricks, and more
- 📖 Resources - Curated learning materials and references
- 🎯 Best Practices - Preferred technologies and recommended learning paths
| Roadmap | Source |
|---|---|
| 🎥 The ONLY Data Engineer Certifications You Need to Find a Job | Jash Radia (Google Data Engineer) |
| 🎥 God Tier Data Engineering Roadmap | Jash Radia (Google Data Engineer) |
| 📄 Detailed Roadmap PDF | Jash Radia |
| 🎥 How I would learn Data Engineering | Jayzern |
A curated list of essential technologies organized by category. Bold items indicate preferred/recommended options.
| Category | Technology/Tool | Status |
|---|---|---|
| 💻 Programming Languages | Python, SQL, Java, Scala | ⭐ Essential |
| ⚡ Processing Frameworks | Spark (PySpark), Flink, Apache Beam, AWS EMR | 🔥 Core |
| 🗄️ Databases | PostgreSQL, MySQL, MongoDB, Cassandra, DynamoDB, BigTable | 📊 Important |
| ☁️ Data Warehouses | Snowflake, BigQuery, Redshift, Databricks | 🎯 Critical |
| 🐧 Operating Systems | Linux | ✅ Required |
| ☁️ Cloud Service Providers | AWS, GCP, Azure | 🌟 Essential |
| 🔄 Orchestration | Airflow, Prefect, Dagster | 🚀 Must Learn |
| 📡 Streaming | Kafka, Kinesis, Pub/Sub, Flink | ⚡ Important |
| 🐳 Containerization | Docker, Kubernetes | 🎯 Industry Standard |
| 🏗️ Infrastructure as Code | Terraform, CloudFormation, Pulumi | 🔧 Recommended |
| 🔄 CI/CD | GitHub Actions, Jenkins, GitLab CI, SonarQube, SonarCloud | ✅ Best Practice |
| 📝 Version Control | Git | ✅ Essential |
| 💾 Data Formats | Parquet, Avro, ORC, JSON | 📦 Important |
| 📊 Monitoring & Observability | Datadog, Prometheus, Grafana, CloudWatch | 👁️ Critical |
| ✅ Data Quality & Testing | Great Expectations, dbt | 🎯 Best Practice |
| 📨 Message Queues | RabbitMQ, Amazon SQS | 🔄 Useful |
| 🔀 ETL/Data Integration | AWS Glue | 🛠️ Important |
| 📈 Data Visualization/BI | Power BI | 📊 Valuable |
💡 Note: Bold technologies indicate preferred options based on industry standards and market demand.
- 🔥 Must Learn First: Python, SQL, Linux, Spark, Airflow, Docker
- ⭐ High Priority: Cloud Platform (AWS/GCP/Azure), Data Warehouse (Snowflake/BigQuery), Kafka
- 📚 Expand Knowledge: Kubernetes, Terraform, dbt, Monitoring tools
Professional certifications to validate your skills and advance your career. Organized by provider:
**Certification: ** AWS Certified Solutions Architect - Associate
Practice Exams:
📝 AWS Certified Solutions Architect Associate Practice Exams - Instructor: Jon Bonso
Certification: AWS Certified Data Engineer - Associate
Exam Prep:
📚 Exam Prep Plan: AWS Certified Data Engineer - Associate (DEA-C01)
Courses:
- 🎥 AWS Certified Data Engineer - Associate (DEA-C01) - 5 Hours | Complete preparation course by Johnny Chivers
🔗 GitHub - Hands-on Practice - Hands-on labs and practice exercises
Articles & Guides:
📖 How I Prepared for the AWS Data Engineer Associate Exam - Denis Burakov | First-hand experience and preparation tips
Certification: AWS Certified Solutions Architect - Professional
| Resource | Type | Link |
|---|---|---|
| 📚 Data Engineering on AWS Learning Plans | Learning Plan (with labs) | View Details |
| 📚 Data Engineering on AWS - Foundations | Course | View Details |
| 📚 A Day in the Life of a Data Engineer | Course | View Details |
Certification: Apache Airflow 3 Fundamentals
Courses:
Practice Exams:
Certification: DAG Authoring (Airflow 3)
Practice Exams:
Certification: Databricks Certified Associate Developer for Apache Spark
Courses:
Practice Exams:
Certification: Data Engineer Associate
Courses:
Practice Exams:
Certification: Data Engineer Professional
Courses:
Practice Exams:
Certification: Associate Cloud Engineer
Certification: Professional Data Engineer
Courses:
Certification: Fabric Data Engineer Associate
Certification: Azure Solutions Architect Expert
Certification: SnowPro® Core
Certification: SnowPro® Advanced: Data Engineer
- Foundation → Start with cloud platform certifications (AWS/GCP/Azure)
- Specialization → Then pursue data platform certifications (Snowflake/Databricks) based on your career goals
- Advanced → Consider professional-level certifications after gaining experience
- Cloud First: Master one cloud platform (AWS, GCP, or Azure) before moving to specialized platforms
- Hands-on Practice: Combine certifications with real-world projects and hands-on labs
- Career Alignment: Choose certifications that align with your target roles and industry requirements
- Continuous Learning: Stay updated with new certifications and platform updates
- 🌟 Start Data Engineering - Comprehensive data engineering resources and guides
- Master Python and SQL
- Learn one cloud service provider very good i.e. AWS.
- Get Certifications
- Cloud
- Airflow
- Spark from Databricks
- Coursera - 5 Data Engineer Certifications: Which One Is Right For You?
- DataCamp - Which is the Best Snowflake Certification For 2025?
- DataCamp - Databricks Certifications In 2025: The Complete Guide
- Skillsoft - 20+ Top-Paying IT Certifications for 2025
Real-world interview experiences from data engineers who successfully landed roles at top tech companies. Learn from their journeys, preparation strategies, and insights.
| Interview Experience | Creator | Note |
|---|---|---|
| 🎤 Google Data Engineer Interview Experience | Data Depth | Leetcode Medium, Hackerrank Advanced SQL |
| 🎤 Google Data Engineer Interview Experience | Jash Radia |
💡 Tip: Watch these interviews to understand the interview format, types of questions asked, and how to prepare effectively for data engineering roles at top companies.
If this roadmap helped you in your data engineering journey, please consider giving it a ⭐ star!
This project is open source and available under the MIT License.
Made with ❤️ for aspiring data engineers