What is a Parquet file?

Parquet (.parquet) is a columnar storage format developed by Apache (Cloudera/Twitter, 2013). It stores data in columns rather than rows, enabling efficient compression and fast analytical queries on large datasets. Parquet is the standard format for big data analytics in Apache Spark, Hadoop, Hive and cloud data lakes.

What is an Avro file?

Avro (.avro) is a row-based data serialization format developed by Apache (Doug Cutting, 2009). It stores data with a JSON-based schema embedded in the file, enabling schema evolution and compact binary storage. Avro is widely used in Kafka, Hadoop and streaming data pipelines.

Are my Parquet/Avro files uploaded?

No. Data files you open from your device stay on your device and are parsed locally. Only the public sample file is requested from the server.

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Parquet Viewer

Free online Parquet viewer. Open and preview columnar data files (.parquet, .avro) directly in your browser — no upload, no software.

.parquet.avro

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About this file format

Parquet (.parquet), created by Cloudera and Twitter in 2013 (now Apache Parquet), is the industry-standard columnar storage format for big data. It stores data column-by-column, enabling high compression ratios (10x+) and fast analytical queries by reading only needed columns. Parquet is used by Apache Spark, Hive, Impala, Presto, AWS Athena, Google BigQuery and all major data lake platforms. Avro (.avro, Apache Avro, 2009) is a complementary row-based format with embedded schema, popular in streaming pipelines (Kafka) and RPC systems.

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