Interview with Materialize - Consistency

SUP! Hubert’s Substack

In this podcast, we interview Arjun Narayan, Frank McSherry, and Nikhil Benesch from Materialize. Ralph and I are writing a book on streaming databases and seeking expert insights from Materialize on topics rarely discussed in the field. We begin by exploring the distinction between operational and analytical workloads, highlighting the importance of real-time or near-real-time results for operational tasks. We further delve into the significance of consistency in operational workloads and the challenges of using eventually consistent systems. The guests caution against relying on eventually consistent stores and databases, stressing the value of consistency in certain domains like payments.

We focus on the concept of time in differential data flow, explaining how revisions provide a better understanding of time in this context. Consistency is highlighted as crucial in temporal joins, especially for mathematical operations and data enrichment. Overall, we emphasize the importance of real-time workloads, consistency, and integration in operational systems.

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