CDC vs ETL: Which One Is Right for Modern Workloads?
In the era of real-time decisions, API-driven architectures, and AI-ready data stacks, choosing the right data movement strategy is critical. Should you use traditional ETL (Extract, Transform, Load) or adopt CDC (Change Data Capture)? This guide breaks down the differences, trade-offs, and best-fit scenarios for both. What Is ETL? ETL—Extract, Transform, Load—is a long-established process in data engineering. It extracts full data sets from source systems, transforms them (e.g., joins, cleans, reshapes), and then loads them into target systems such as a data warehouse. Traditional ETL Characteristics: Batch-based (runs every few hours/days) Often introduces data latency High system load during...