Hi everyone,
some of you might have already read FLIP-32 [1] where we've described an
approximate roadmap of how to handle the big Blink SQL contribution and
how we can make the Table & SQL API equally important to the existing
DataStream API.
As mentioned there (Advance the API and Unblock New Features, Item 1),
the rework of the Table/SQL type system is a crucial step for unblocking
future contributions. In particular, Flink's current type system has
many shortcomings which make an integration with other systems (such as
Hive), DDL statements, and a unified API for Java/Scala difficult. We
propose a new type system that is closer to the SQL standard, integrates
better with other SQL vendors, and solves most of the type-related
issues we had in the past.
The design document for FLIP-37 can be found here:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1a9HUb6OaBIoj9IRfbILcMFPrOL7ALeZ3rVI66dvA2_U/edit?usp=sharing
I'm looking forward to your feedback.
Thanks,
Timo
[1]
https://cwiki.apache.org/confluence/display/FLINK/FLIP-32%3A+Restructure+flink-table+for+future+contributions
