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Explain the purpose of windowing and triggering in streaming data pipelines.

SQLhard0.4 min readPremium
Frequency
Low
Asked at 1 company
Category
487
questions in SQL
Difficulty Split
130E|271M|86H
in this category
Total Bank
1,863
across 7 categories
Asked at these companies
Aarete
Key Concepts Tested
window
Expert AnswerPremium
89 wordsInterview-ready
**Windowing** defines time boundaries: tumbling (non-overlapping), sliding (overlapping), session (gap-based). Enables aggregations over event time. **Triggering** controls when output is emitted: processing-time, event-time watermark, count-based, or composite (early + final for late data). **Why both**: Windowing defines *what* to aggregate; triggering defines *when* to emit. Example: 1-hour tumbling window with 5-min trigger = emit partial results every 5 mins, final at watermark....
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