analytics-dictionary / tool overview / transformation & metrics

dbt

dbt is a tool for transforming data in a warehouse using SQL, with version control, testing and documentation.

Written by Reflective Data experts · updated Oct 5, 2026

You write models as SQL select statements; dbt builds them in dependency order, runs tests and generates documentation and lineage. It popularised the ELT and analytics engineering approach.

Project structure, naming and testing discipline decide whether a dbt project stays maintainable as it grows.

Data lineage Data modeling ELT (extract, load, transform)MetricFlow

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Metric

A metric is a quantitative measure of performance, such as revenue, conversion rate or active users.

dataform.md

Dataform

Dataform is a Google Cloud service for developing and orchestrating SQL transformations in BigQuery.

data-mart.md

Data mart

A data mart is a focused subset of a warehouse built for one team or subject,…

staging-layer.md

Staging layer

The staging layer holds lightly cleaned copies of source tables, one per source table, as the…

data-contract.md

Data contract

A data contract is an agreement between data producers and consumers about the structure and meaning…

dimension.md

Dimension

A dimension is an attribute used to slice or group metrics, such as country, device or…

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