@Marvin When working with large datasets, I'm confused as to how to pass large results between tasks. I.e. one task will batch-fetch results, the other will process it, the last perform some reporting. It seems like every results between tasks is serialized and passed to the other as inputs. I could use a tempfile to alleviate this step, and only have prefect managing/exporting/serializing at the end of the flow. But is there any built-in ways so that tasks within the same flows can just take the outputs as inputs without any processing?

In Prefect 3.x, when passing large results between tasks, serialization is indeed a common method. However, there are ways to optimize this process: 1. Use of Futures: Prefect tasks return futures, which are placeholders for results. These can be passed between tasks without immediate serialization. You can use

.result()

or

.wait()

to retrieve the actual result when needed, which is a blocking operation. This is particularly useful if you only need to serialize at the end of a flow or for specific tasks. More on task runners and futures. 2. Task Mapping: Prefect provides a

.map()

method, which can be used to handle large datasets by distributing work across multiple task runs. This can help in managing large data without immediate serialization. Mapping over iterables. 3. Result Storage and Serialization: Prefect allows custom result storage and serializers. You can configure tasks to use these to manage how and when results are serialized. This can be useful to delay or control serialization until necessary. More on result serialization. While you can use temporary files as a workaround, utilizing Prefect's built-in features can provide a more seamless integration within your workflows. If you're interested in more advanced configurations, exploring Prefect's caching and storage options might also be beneficial.

Would caching solve this? To be clear, I'm trying to prevent a huge delay between tasks because they're passing around a lot of data

Hey Selora! Have you come across this doc by chance? It provides guidance on using Prefect to work big data efficiently.

Hey! Thanls, this answer a lot of my problems! Just a quick question, what exactly is task introspection?

Task introspection allows Prefect to track task dependencies and manage the flow of data between tasks. Prefect examines each argument passed to a task, when the task is called from a flow.