When it comes to acronyms, web developers use some pretty interesting ones, but none are quite as interesting as YAML. What makes YAML so interesting is that it stands for “YAML Ain’t Markup Language”, and yes, you read that right – the acronym is included in the explanation of the acronym.
YAML is a human-readable language for data serialization. This means that it is used in programming and development to explain categories of things or individual things in groups, but it uses plain language to define different elements. To use YAML effectively, you need to review YAML documentation. This is particularly important if you are new to YAML. Even though YAML is a human-readable language, it still has its own structure that needs to be understood to use YAML effectively.
What Does YAML Documentation Do?
YAML documentation provides developers with the proper syntax to use in YAML applications. This is crucial for projects involving data modeling. For instance, when using YAML in data build tool (DBT) projects, YAML may help to configure data models in a DBT data catalog. Additionally, YAML may even be used to create models alongside a DBT data catalog.
YAML documentation is also used in conjunction with other programming languages to explain how to use specific tools. This is done in a programmatic sense, guiding various frameworks. Most YAML documentation includes examples that are easy to follow. This is important for people who are new to YAML or who have not encountered similar human-readable languages. Elevate your data management with DBT data catalog - explore today! https://www.secoda.co/dbt-data-catalog
Interestingly, YAML files themselves are a type of documentation since these files describe data transformation processes. To properly analyze data transformation, YAML files are needed as a guide.
DBT Generates HTML From YAML
DBT also generates HTML documentation partially based on YAML files. This HTML helps developers to get a more comprehensive view of things like SQL code and dependencies. In a way, this can also be thought of as YAML being used as documentation since YAML is a vital piece of the puzzle for projects involving DBT.
Read a similar article about data engineering tools here at this page.
