🎬 VIDEO SERIES
Build a Real Data Platform, One Episode at a Time
Follow along as we build, run, and migrate a complete data platform for Maple Card, a fictional credit card company, using Python, SQL, Azure, Synapse, Databricks, Microsoft Fabric, and AI. Every episode comes with a detailed written guide.
Why this series is different
Most data engineering tutorials teach one tool at a time with tiny sample files. Real jobs look nothing like that: data arrives from many systems, it is messy and late, it must be secured, and platforms eventually get migrated to newer technology.
This series follows one realistic project from the first line of Python to a production platform. We build it on Azure Synapse and Databricks, run it like a real team would, and then migrate it to Microsoft Fabric, the same journey many companies are making right now.
▶ Start here: Episode 0
What is Data Engineering? Follow One Credit Card Swipe
Follow a single card tap from the coffee shop to a fraud check, your statement, and a bank dashboard. Learn what data engineers do, Bronze, Silver and Gold, batch vs streaming, ETL vs ELT, who does what on a data team, and meet Maple Card, the company we build for in this series.
🗺️ The season map
About 58 episodes of 8 to 10 minutes each. Each season adds a real layer to the Maple Card platform.
SEASON 0 Available now
Trailer
What is data engineering? Follow one card swipe from tap to dashboard
You will build: The target architecture
SEASON 1 Coming soon
Python
Generate Maple Card’s customers, merchants, transactions, and chargebacks
You will build: Data generators and a live swipe simulator
SEASON 2 Coming soon
SQL
Turn the generated data into a working source database
You will build: Queries, views, stored procedures, indexes
SEASON 3 Coming soon
Cloud and Azure
Set up the cloud foundation for dev, staging, and production
You will build: Data lake with Bronze/Silver/Gold, Key Vault, identities
SEASON 4 Coming soon
Azure Synapse
Build version 1 of the platform
You will build: Incremental, audited, scheduled ingestion into Bronze
SEASON 5 Coming soon
PySpark and Databricks
Clean the data into Silver and Gold, batch and streaming
You will build: Data quality, SCD Type 2, fraud features, Customer 360
SEASON 6 Coming soon
Microsoft Fabric admin
Put on the platform engineer’s hat
You will build: Capacity, workspaces per environment, security
SEASON 7 Coming soon
Synapse to Fabric
Migrate the whole platform, then switch Synapse off
You will build: Fabric pipelines, Direct Lake dashboards, cutover
SEASON 8 Coming soon
AI and ML
Add intelligence on top of the data
You will build: A fraud score on every transaction and a data chatbot
How every episode works
❓
Four questions every episode
What is it? Why do we need it? When and where do we use it? How do we build it?
⏱️
8 to 10 minutes, one idea
Short enough to finish in a coffee break, focused enough to remember.
🧩
One real piece of the project
Every episode adds to the same Maple Card platform, with the code on GitHub so you can join at any point.
📖
A written guide for every video
Prefer reading or want more depth? Each episode has a detailed companion post on this site.
Who this series is for
Students and career switchers who want a structured path into data engineering, analysts ready to move beyond dashboards, and working engineers who want hands-on experience with Databricks, Microsoft Fabric, and a real Synapse-to-Fabric migration. No experience is needed to start: if you can install software and you are curious, you are ready.
Want to read ahead?
Every season builds on topics already covered in depth on this site.