Apache Airflow, the world’s most advanced workflow management platform, is one of the best examples of the explosive growth and development seen since it was created in 2015. Airflow is formerly an open-source project that Airbnb created. It has since evolved into a must-have platform for driving machine learning operations (MLOps) as well as generative AI capabilities. The popularity of Airflow has exploded, bringing new use cases along with it. With more than 3,000 developers in its rapidly growing global community, it has reached over 35 to 40 million downloads per month on average.
The journey of Airflow from a niche project to a top-tier solution for organizations worldwide highlights its adaptability and the dedication of its contributors. Read this article to learn more about the major milestones in Airflow’s evolution, and what it’s doing today to change the technological landscape.
Key Milestones in Airflow’s Evolution
The public release of Airflow 2.0 in December 2020 was a big moment in the orchestration tool’s evolution. After one year of serious effort, this iteration brought on massive improvements to boost performance, scalability, and user experience. Airflow grew into a robust ecosystem, and four years after its initial release, it was accepted as a Top-Level Project at the Apache Software Foundation. This transition further cemented its status as a trusted tool in the open-source community.
The improvements did not stop there. With the release of Airflow 3.0 in April 2023, new features and improvements have expanded its functionality even further. The TPC project management committee continues to work hard toward continuous improvement. Under the guidance of stalwart members like Jarek Potiuk and Koka, chief strategy officer at data operations platform Astronomer, this team has made many bug fixes and improvements.
Airflow has been in constant evolution to ensure it fits the needs of all applications. It’s the unsung hero of MLOps and generative AI, quietly coordinating intricate workflows like a maestro conducting a symphony. Deployments Organizations are rapidly putting Airflow to work to accelerate the development of automated data pipelines and improve their operational efficiency.
Community and Contributions
Airflow’s success is largely due to its active community of contributors. Along with the projects they’ve seeded, they’ve built an inclusive environment that welcomes developers of all skill levels. With more than 3,000 people writing code, documentation, and help documentation, the community is dedicated to growing and improving the open platform together.
Jens Scheffler is one of many notable contributors who have made meaningful impacts on Airflow’s development. His participation is a perfect example of the collaborative spirit present throughout the project. The nurturing of this community has been instrumental in ensuring that Airflow remains relevant and responsive to the needs of its users.
The idea of code-first pipelines has turned into one of the defining features of Airflow, and empowering users to deploy their workflows as code. This new unified approach greatly eases and streamlines pipeline management. More importantly, it joins modern software development practices at the hip, making it easier for teams to adopt, implement, and become proficient with.
Real-World Applications and Impact
Its flexibility and robustness have brought the attention of some of the highest profile organizations who have sought to improve their operational abilities. For example, Bosch recently relied on Airflow to orchestrate and manage hundreds of thousands of tests for its automated driving systems. This type of use case is just one example to highlight Airflow’s applicability across industries and use cases.
The platform’s best-in-class workflow scheduling, execution, and monitoring has made it the pillar of choice for hundreds of thousands of organizations. With businesses putting more and more focus on data-driven decision-making, Airflow can help create the infrastructure to streamline these processes.
Moreover, Airflow’s downloads reflect its growing popularity. This is why organizations are quickly identifying the importance of adopting Airflow into their overall data operations. You can see that reflected in their remarkable monthly downloads average, at around 35 to 40 million. The speed and breadth of the platform’s adoption speaks volumes to its powerful capabilities. It further cements its place as the clear leader in workflow management solutions.