**Why it matters**: At scale, design choices directly impact reliability, latency, and cost. Wrong decisions compound across jobs and teams.
Read CSV, filter, write: `df = spark.read.option('header',True).csv('path'); filtered = df.filter(col('status')=='active'); filtered.write.mode('overwrite').saveAsTable('target_table')`. Or `.parquet('path')`....
The complete answer continues with detailed implementation patterns, architectural trade-offs, and production-grade considerations. It covers performance optimization strategies, common pitfalls to avoid, and real-world examples from companies like Pubmatic. The answer also includes follow-up discussion points that interviewers commonly explore.
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