[hodgesrm]

This Google article was nice as a high level overview of Iceberg V3. I wish that the V3 spec (and Iceberg specs in general) were more readable. For now the best approach seems to be read the Javadoc for the Iceberg Java API. [0]

[0] https://javadoc.io/doc/org.apache.iceberg/iceberg-api/latest...

[twoodfin]

The Iceberg spec is a model of clarity and simplicity compared to the (constantly in flux via Databricks commits…) Delta protocol spec:

https://github.com/delta-io/delta/blob/master/PROTOCOL.md

[eatonphil]

To the contrary, the Delta Lake paper is extremely easy to read and implement the basics of (I did) and Iceberg has nothing so concise and clear.

[twoodfin]

If I implement what’s described in the Delta Lake paper, will I be able to query and update arbitrary Delta Lake tables as populated by Databricks in 2025?

(Would be genuinely excited if the answer is yes.)

[eatonphil]

Not sure (probably not). But it's definitely much easier to immediately understand IMO.

[twoodfin]

OK, but at least from my perspective, the point of OTF’s is to allow ongoing interoperability between query and update engines.

A “standard” getting semi-monthly updates via random Databricks-affiliated GitHub accounts doesn’t really fit that bill.

Look at something like this:

https://github.com/delta-io/delta/blob/master/PROTOCOL.md#wr...

Ouch.