Diagnosing Query Plans with explain(mode='extended')

How can we inspect Parsed, Analyzed, Optimized, and Physical query execution plans in PySpark?

Expert⏱ 3 Minutes⭐ 810 XP

🤔 THE QUESTION

How can we inspect Parsed, Analyzed, Optimized, and Physical query execution plans in PySpark?

💡 WHAT IS IT?

explain(mode='extended') prints the complete Catalyst query optimization stages including predicate pushdown and join strategies.

🎯 WHAT IS IT USED FOR?

Identifying bottleneck shuffles, missing broadcast joins, or inefficient full table scans in cluster jobs.

💻 EXAMPLE

df.filter(col("amount") > 100).join(broadcast(df_dim), "dim_id").explain(mode="extended")

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