● Covered by 1 source · 1 reportMedium impact1 neutral
AWS Glue 6.0 Released with 30% Price Reduction and Full Apache Iceberg v3 Support
Key points
- AWS Glue 6.0 is generally available.
- It offers 30% lower pricing than previous versions.
- Includes full support for Apache Iceberg v3 features.
- Built on Apache Spark 4.1, Python 3.12, and Scala 2.13.
AWS Glue 6.0 General Availability
AWS Glue 6.0 is now generally available. This new version introduces a 30% price reduction compared to earlier AWS Glue versions. The update also includes full support for Apache Iceberg v3 features, built on Iceberg 1.11.0.
Modernized Runtime and Performance Improvements
AWS Glue 6.0 is built on a modernized runtime, incorporating Apache Spark 4.1, Python 3.12, and Scala 2.13. This foundation is intended to deliver faster performance and enhance the overall efficiency of the service. The release also aims to simplify ETL authoring and improve PySpark performance.
Apache Iceberg v3 Capabilities
The complete Apache Iceberg v3 specification is implemented in AWS Glue 6.0. A key feature is the VARIANT data type with shredding support, which allows for faster query read performance for semi-structured data compared to traditional string data type columns. This enables storing and querying JSON, logs, and event data without schema flattening, reducing data duplication and pipeline breakage from schema changes.
Additional Iceberg v3 capabilities include Geometry and Geography data types for spatial processing, nanosecond-precision timestamps for high-frequency workloads, and unknown type handling for resilience against evolving schemas.
Spark 4.1 Enhancements
AWS Glue 6.0 incorporates significant upgrades from Spark 4.1. Spark Declarative Pipelines simplify ETL authoring by allowing data engineers to declare transformations, with the engine automatically determining execution order and optimization. This reduces pipeline development complexity and manual orchestration overhead.
The release also introduces Arrow-native execution for Python User-Defined Functions (UDFs) and User-Defined Table Functions (UDTFs), which eliminates serialization overhead between Python and the Spark engine.
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Reporting from
AWS has released Glue 6.0, which offers a 30% price reduction compared to previous versions and includes full support for Apache Iceberg v3 features. This update provides a modernized runtime with Apache Spark 4.1, Python 3.12, and Scala 2.13, aiming to improve performance and simplify ETL authoring.