Apache Beam is an open-source, unified model for defining both batch and streaming data-parallel processing pipelines, allowing developers to write jobs that can run on various execution engines.
Apache Beam provides a high-level programming model with a unified API for batch and streaming, portability across multiple runners, and support for windowing, event time, triggers, and watermarks.
Java is the primary SDK for Apache Beam, offering mature API, better performance tuning options, wide usage in enterprise systems, and compatibility with Maven and Gradle for dependency management.
Apache Beam's unified API allows developers to define pipelines that can be configured for either batch or streaming at runtime, making it versatile for processing both bounded and unbounded datasets.