Skip to content

Cache BigQuery table definitions in Python SDK#39028

Open
lalitx17 wants to merge 1 commit into
apache:masterfrom
lalitx17:bigquery-table-definition-cache
Open

Cache BigQuery table definitions in Python SDK#39028
lalitx17 wants to merge 1 commit into
apache:masterfrom
lalitx17:bigquery-table-definition-cache

Conversation

@lalitx17

Copy link
Copy Markdown
Contributor

This adds a small class level cache around BigQueryWrapper.get_table() so multiple wrapper instances in the same worker can reuse table definitions instead of repeatedly calling BigQuery tables.get.

The cache is bounded, expires entries after a conservative TTL, and is invalidated when Beam creates or deletes a table.

addresses #34076

@lalitx17 lalitx17 marked this pull request as ready for review June 19, 2026 01:41
Copilot AI review requested due to automatic review settings June 19, 2026 01:41

Copilot AI left a comment

Copy link
Copy Markdown

Choose a reason for hiding this comment

The reason will be displayed to describe this comment to others. Learn more.

Copilot was unable to review this pull request because the user who requested the review has reached their quota limit.

@gemini-code-assist

Copy link
Copy Markdown
Contributor

Summary of Changes

Hello, I'm Gemini Code Assist1! I'm currently reviewing this pull request and will post my feedback shortly. In the meantime, here's a summary to help you and other reviewers quickly get up to speed!

This pull request optimizes BigQuery interactions in the Python SDK by implementing a class-level cache for table definitions. By caching these definitions, multiple wrapper instances within the same worker process can reuse existing metadata, significantly reducing the number of redundant 'tables.get' API requests. The implementation includes robust cache management with size limits, expiration policies, and lifecycle-based invalidation to maintain accuracy.

Highlights

  • Caching Mechanism: Introduced a thread-safe, bounded, and time-to-live (TTL) aware cache for BigQuery table definitions within the BigQueryWrapper class to reduce redundant API calls.
  • Cache Invalidation: Implemented automatic cache invalidation logic triggered when tables are created or deleted to ensure data consistency.
  • Testing: Added comprehensive unit tests to verify cache behavior, including TTL expiration, cache hits/misses, and proper invalidation on table lifecycle events.
New Features

🧠 You can now enable Memory (public preview) to help Gemini Code Assist learn from your team's feedback. This makes future code reviews more consistent and personalized to your project's style. Click here to enable Memory in your admin console.

Using Gemini Code Assist

The full guide for Gemini Code Assist can be found on our documentation page, here are some quick tips.

Invoking Gemini

You can request assistance from Gemini at any point by creating a comment using either /gemini <command> or @gemini-code-assist <command>. Below is a summary of the supported commands on the current page.

Feature Command Description
Code Review /gemini review Performs a code review for the current pull request in its current state.
Pull Request Summary /gemini summary Provides a summary of the current pull request in its current state.
Comment @gemini-code-assist Responds in comments when explicitly tagged, both in pull request comments and review comments.
Help /gemini help Displays a list of available commands.

Customization

To customize the Gemini Code Assist for GitHub experience, repository maintainers can create a configuration file and/or provide a custom code review style guide (such as PEP-8 for Python) by creating and adding files to a .gemini/ folder in the base of the repository. Detailed instructions can be found here.

Limitations & Feedback

Gemini Code Assist may make mistakes. Please leave feedback on any instances where its feedback is incorrect or counterproductive. You can react with 👍 and 👎 on @gemini-code-assist comments. If you're interested in giving your feedback about your experience with Gemini Code Assist for GitHub and other Google products, sign up here.

Footnotes

  1. Review the Privacy Notices, Generative AI Prohibited Use Policy, Terms of Service, and learn how to configure Gemini Code Assist in GitHub here. Gemini can make mistakes, so double check it and use code with caution.

@gemini-code-assist gemini-code-assist Bot left a comment

Copy link
Copy Markdown
Contributor

Choose a reason for hiding this comment

The reason will be displayed to describe this comment to others. Learn more.

Code Review

This pull request introduces an in-memory cache for BigQuery table definitions within BigQueryWrapper to reduce redundant API calls, complete with TTL expiration, eviction, and thread safety. The review feedback suggests optimizing the cache-clearing logic by using clear() when emptying the entire cache, and reducing the default TTL from 1 hour to 5 minutes to prevent workers from using stale metadata in streaming or long-running pipelines.

Important

The consumer version of Gemini Code Assist on GitHub is being sunset. Starting June 18, 2026, new organization installations will be blocked, and all code review activity will officially cease on July 17, 2026.
For more details on the timeline and next steps, please review the Help Documentation.

Comment on lines +448 to +454
if (project_id is not None and dataset_id is not None and
table_id is not None):
cache_key = cls._table_definition_cache_key(
project_id, dataset_id, table_id)
cls._table_definition_cache.pop(cache_key, None)
return

Copy link
Copy Markdown
Contributor

Choose a reason for hiding this comment

The reason will be displayed to describe this comment to others. Learn more.

medium

When clearing the entire cache (i.e., when project_id, dataset_id, and table_id are all None), we can use cls._table_definition_cache.clear() instead of building a list of all keys and popping them one by one. This is much more efficient and simpler.

    with cls._table_definition_cache_lock:
      if project_id is None and dataset_id is None and table_id is None:
        cls._table_definition_cache.clear()
        return

      if (project_id is not None and dataset_id is not None and
          table_id is not None):
        cache_key = cls._table_definition_cache_key(
            project_id, dataset_id, table_id)
        cls._table_definition_cache.pop(cache_key, None)
        return


# Shared by wrapper instances within one Python SDK worker process.
_TABLE_DEFINITION_CACHE_MAX_ENTRIES = 256
_TABLE_DEFINITION_CACHE_TTL_SECS = 60 * 60

Copy link
Copy Markdown
Contributor

Choose a reason for hiding this comment

The reason will be displayed to describe this comment to others. Learn more.

medium

A TTL of 1 hour (60 * 60 seconds) is quite long for caching table definitions. In streaming pipelines or long-running jobs where table schemas might be updated dynamically (e.g., adding a nullable column), workers could use stale metadata for up to an hour, leading to schema mismatch errors. Consider reducing the default TTL to a more conservative value (e.g., 5 or 10 minutes) or making it configurable via pipeline options.

Suggested change
_TABLE_DEFINITION_CACHE_TTL_SECS = 60 * 60
_TABLE_DEFINITION_CACHE_TTL_SECS = 5 * 60

@github-actions

Copy link
Copy Markdown
Contributor

Assigning reviewers:

R: @shunping for label python.

Note: If you would like to opt out of this review, comment assign to next reviewer.

Available commands:

  • stop reviewer notifications - opt out of the automated review tooling
  • remind me after tests pass - tag the comment author after tests pass
  • waiting on author - shift the attention set back to the author (any comment or push by the author will return the attention set to the reviewers)

The PR bot will only process comments in the main thread (not review comments).

Sign up for free to join this conversation on GitHub. Already have an account? Sign in to comment

Projects

None yet

Development

Successfully merging this pull request may close these issues.

2 participants