There are many scripting languages out there, with the latest being Flux by InfluxData. Flux is a functional data scripting language designed to accommodate a wide array of data processing and analytical operations.
DBTA recently held a webinar with Scott Anderson, technical writer, InfluxData, who discussed the origins of Flux, key concepts, basic Flux syntax and more.
InfluxDB is optimized for fast, high-availability storage and retrieval of time series data in fields such as operations monitoring, application metrics, IoT data, and real-time analytics, Anderson explained.
Flux was created as a data scripting language. Its design goals consisted of being:
- Turing-complete, functional language
- Useable
- Readable
- Flexible
- Extensible
- Testable
- Contributable
- Shareable
Flux can take the entire data workflow and unify it under a single syntax, one that can query data, process data, and act on that data, Anderson said.
“We want users of Flux to extend it to meet their needs and then contribute that back to their community,” Anderson said.
Flux queries come from a data source which is then filtered by time and column value. Flux then begins to shape that data with a group function, Anderson explained. The highest value Flux can process is a table.
An archived on-demand replay of this webinar is available here.