Getting Started with DuckDB w/ Kevin Feasel

DuckDB is a lightweight, open-source database that has become a go-to solution for running analytical queries on local machines. In this talk, we will explore why that is, showing off some of its simplicity, portability, and extensibility. We will investigate how its columnar data storage helps with analytical queries and how to read data in common file formats such as CSV, JSON, and Parquet. We will also dig into its SQL interface and see how closely it mirrors relational database solutions. By the end of this talk, we will understand some of the best use cases for DuckDB and what it takes to get started.

About Kevin
Kevin Feasel has worked as an application developer, database administrator, database engineer, manager of a predictive analytics team, and CTO of a startup.

He specializes in data analytics with T-SQL and R, forcing Spark clusters to do his bidding, fighting with Kafka, and pulling rabbits out of hats on demand.

Kevin is a Microsoft Data Platform MVP based on his community efforts. Kevin has presented at over 100 SQL Saturdays across the world, has delivered a pre-conference training at PASS Summit, and has spoken at conferences like PASS Summit, NDC (Oslo and Sydney), Music City Tech, Datagrillen, Open F#, and IT/DevConnections. He is also President of the Triangle SQL Server Users Group (TriPASS) in Raleigh-Durham, North Carolina and a co-organizer of the Triangle .NET Users Group (TriNUG).

A resident of Raleigh, North Carolina, he can be found cycling the trails along the triangle whenever the weather's nice enough.