BigData / Apache Airflow Interview Questions

What is the difference between depends_on_past and wait_for_downstream in Airflow?

Both parameters control inter-run dependencies for a task:

depends_on_past=True: The task will only run if the same task in the previous DAG Run succeeded. Useful for tasks that process sequential data.
wait_for_downstream=True: The task will wait until all immediately downstream tasks from the previous DAG Run have completed. Stricter than depends_on_past.

These are set as operator-level parameters and are applied per task, not per DAG.

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What does depends_on_past=True enforce for a task? The same task in the previous DAG Run must have succeeded

✓ Correct! Well done.

All upstream tasks must succeed first

✗ Try again if not.

All downstream tasks from the previous run must complete

✗ Try again if not.

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