Process & Analyze Hacker News Data in Databricks (AWS)

Databricks is a cloud-based service that provides data processing capabilities through Apache Spark. When paired with the CData JDBC Driver, customers can use Databricks to perform data engineering and data science on live Hacker News data. This article explains how to host the CData JDBC Driver in AWS, as well as connect to and process live Hacker News data in Databricks.

With built-in optimized data processing, the CData JDBC Driver offers unmatched performance for interacting with live Hacker News data. When you issue complex SQL queries to Hacker News, the driver pushes supported SQL operations, like filters and aggregations, directly to Hacker News and utilizes the embedded SQL engine to process unsupported operations client-side (often SQL functions and JOIN operations). Its built-in dynamic metadata querying allows you to work with and analyze Hacker News data using native data types.

Install the CData JDBC Driver in Databricks

To work with live Hacker News data in Databricks, install the driver on your Databricks cluster.

1. Navigate to your Databricks administration screen and select the target cluster.
2. On the Libraries tab, click "Install New."
3. Select "Upload" as the Library Source and "Jar" as the Library Type.
4. Upload the JDBC JAR file (cdata.jdbc.api.jar) from the installation location (typically C:\Program Files\CData[product_name]\lib).

Access Hacker News Data in your Notebook: Python

With the JAR file installed, we are ready to work with live Hacker News data in Databricks. Start by creating a new notebook in your workspace. Name the notebook, select Python as the language (though Scala is available as well), and choose the cluster where you installed the JDBC driver. When the notebook launches, we can configure the connection, query Hacker News, and create a basic report.

Configure the Connection to Hacker News

Connect to Hacker News by referencing the JDBC Driver class and constructing a connection string to use in the JDBC URL. Additionally, you will need to set the RTK property in the JDBC URL (unless you are using a Beta driver). You can view the licensing file included in the installation for information on how to set this property.

Step 1: Connection Information

driver = "cdata.jdbc.api.APIDriver"
url = "jdbc:api:RTK=5246...;Profile=C:\profiles\HackerNews.apip;AuthScheme=None"

Built-in Connection String Designer

For assistance in constructing the JDBC URL, use the connection string designer built into the Hacker News JDBC Driver. Either double-click the JAR file or execute the jar file from the command-line.

java -jar cdata.jdbc.api.jar

Fill in the connection properties and copy the connection string to the clipboard.

Connecting to HackerNews

The HackerNews API (powered by Firebase) is a public API that requires no authentication. You can connect and query data immediately without any credentials.

After setting the following connection properties, you are ready to connect:

• AuthScheme: Set this to None.

Example connection string:

Profile=C:\profiles\HackerNews.apip;AuthScheme=None

Load Hacker News Data

Once you configure the connection, you can load Hacker News data as a dataframe using the CData JDBC Driver and the connection information.

Step 2: Reading the data

remote_table = spark.read.format ( "jdbc" ) \
	.option ( "driver" , driver) \
	.option ( "url" , url) \
	.option ( "dbtable" , "TopStories") \
	.load ()

Display Hacker News Data

Check the loaded Hacker News data by calling the display function.

Step 3: Checking the result

display (remote_table.select (""))

Analyze Hacker News Data in Databricks

If you want to process data with Databricks SparkSQL, register the loaded data as a Temp View.

Step 4: Create a view or table

remote_table.createOrReplaceTempView ( "SAMPLE_VIEW" )

With the Temp View created, you can use SparkSQL to retrieve the Hacker News data for reporting, visualization, and analysis.

% sql

SELECT ,  FROM SAMPLE_VIEW ORDER BY  DESC LIMIT 5

The data from Hacker News is only available in the target notebook. If you want to use it with other users, save it as a table.

remote_table.write.format ( "parquet" ) .saveAsTable ( "SAMPLE_TABLE" )

Download a free, 30-day trial of the CData API Driver for JDBC and start working with your live Hacker News data in Databricks. Reach out to our Support Team if you have any questions.