DAG

(Directed Acyclic Graph)

You'll see "DAG" everywhere in our docs - it stands for 'directed acyclic graph.' It feels like a bit of computer-science jargon, but it's a crucial concept which is important in data engineering, and becoming relevant for data analytics. Let's break it down:

Directed - one cell influences another in a single direction only - and this influence must be in one direction only.

Acyclic - no circular dependencies allowed. If cell A references cell B, then B can't reference A back (both would error).

Graph - Just a fancy name for boxes connected by arrows.

The DAG is represented in Count by the arrows which appear between cells.

You don't have to think about it, Count will construct and manage the DAG automatically, but it's very helpful to be aware of the relationships between cells as those determine how cells execute in response to changes.