Ask HN: Presto vs. Spark SQL for Adhoc Analysis

[Anurag8701]

I have used Spark and found it to be scalable and Spark SQL seems good for ad-hoc queries too.

But most companies use Presto for there ad-hoc analysis. Why is it so that companies prefer Presto over Spark SQL for adhoc analysis

[rubinelli]

I haven't worked with Spark SQL specifically, but in my use case Presto returned results from simple queries much faster than Spark using EMR. For exploratory analysis, a quick turnaround is crucial.