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GCP BigQuery Cheat Sheet

GCP BigQuery Cheat Sheet

SQL syntax and CLI/Python client reference for querying, loading, and managing data warehouses in Google BigQuery.

2 PagesIntermediateFeb 18, 2026

Basic Query

Standard SQL query against a public dataset.

sql
SELECT  name,  COUNT(*) AS totalFROM `bigquery-public-data.usa_names.usa_1910_2013`WHERE state = 'CA'GROUP BY nameORDER BY total DESCLIMIT 10;

bq CLI Commands

Load data and run queries from the command line.

bash
bq mk my_dataset                              # Create datasetbq load --source_format=CSV \  my_dataset.my_table gs://my-bucket/data.csv \  name:STRING,age:INTEGERbq query --use_legacy_sql=false \  'SELECT COUNT(*) FROM my_dataset.my_table'bq show my_dataset.my_table                   # Table schema/infobq rm -t my_dataset.my_table                  # Delete table

Python Client

Run a query using the google-cloud-bigquery library.

python
from google.cloud import bigqueryclient = bigquery.Client()query = """    SELECT name, total    FROM `my_dataset.my_table`    ORDER BY total DESC    LIMIT 10"""for row in client.query(query).result():    print(row.name, row.total)

Key Concepts

Key key concepts to know.

  • Dataset- Top-level container for tables and views within a project
  • Partitioned Table- Physically divided by a column (often date) to reduce bytes scanned
  • Clustered Table- Sorted by column(s) to speed up filtering within partitions
  • Slot- Unit of computational capacity used to execute queries
  • Materialized View- Precomputed query results automatically refreshed for faster reads

Pricing & Performance Tips

Key pricing & performance tips to know.

  • On-Demand Pricing- Billed per TB of data scanned by the query
  • SELECT *- Avoid it; BigQuery is columnar and scans only referenced columns, so selecting fewer columns cuts cost
  • --dry_run- bq CLI flag to estimate bytes scanned before running a query
  • Partition Pruning- Filtering on the partition column skips scanning irrelevant partitions

Creating a Partitioned & Clustered Table

DDL for a table partitioned by day and clustered for a common filter/group-by column.

sql
CREATE TABLE my_dataset.events (  event_id STRING,  user_id STRING,  event_type STRING,  event_ts TIMESTAMP)PARTITION BY DATE(event_ts)CLUSTER BY user_id, event_typeOPTIONS (  partition_expiration_days = 90,  require_partition_filter = true);

Analytic (Window) Functions

Compute running totals and rank rows within partitions without collapsing them.

sql
SELECT  user_id,  event_ts,  ROW_NUMBER() OVER (PARTITION BY user_id ORDER BY event_ts) AS event_seq,  SUM(1) OVER (    PARTITION BY user_id ORDER BY event_ts    ROWS BETWEEN UNBOUNDED PRECEDING AND CURRENT ROW  ) AS running_event_countFROM `my_dataset.events`QUALIFY event_seq <= 10;

BigQuery Scripting & JS UDF

Multi-statement scripts with variables plus a JavaScript user-defined function.

sql
CREATE TEMP FUNCTION normalize(s STRING)RETURNS STRINGLANGUAGE js AS """  return s.trim().toLowerCase().replace(/[^a-z0-9]/g, '_');""";DECLARE threshold INT64 DEFAULT 100;IF (SELECT COUNT(*) FROM my_dataset.events) > threshold THEN  SELECT normalize(event_type) AS clean_type, COUNT(*) AS n  FROM my_dataset.events  GROUP BY clean_type  ORDER BY n DESC;END IF;

Incremental Load with MERGE

Upsert pattern typically wired into a Scheduled Query for nightly incremental loads.

sql
MERGE INTO my_dataset.users_dim TUSING my_dataset.users_staging SON T.user_id = S.user_idWHEN MATCHED AND T.updated_at < S.updated_at THEN  UPDATE SET name = S.name, email = S.email, updated_at = S.updated_atWHEN NOT MATCHED THEN  INSERT (user_id, name, email, updated_at)  VALUES (S.user_id, S.name, S.email, S.updated_at);

Advanced Cost & Governance Controls

Mechanisms beyond partition pruning for controlling spend and access at scale.

  • Reservations & Slots- Flat-rate/edition-based capacity purchased in advance (BigQuery Editions) to avoid unpredictable on-demand billing
  • Custom Cost Controls- Per-project or per-user maximumBytesBilled query option and daily/query-level quota caps
  • Authorized Views- Share query results from a view without granting the underlying table's dataset access
  • Row-Level Security- CREATE ROW ACCESS POLICY restricts which rows a principal can see within a shared table
  • Column-Level Security- Policy tags in Data Catalog restrict access to sensitive columns independent of table-level IAM
  • INFORMATION_SCHEMA.JOBS- Query historical job metadata (bytes billed, slot-ms, cache hits) to audit and optimize spend
Pro Tip

Always filter on the partitioning column (e.g. WHERE _PARTITIONDATE or a date column) in WHERE clauses — it lets BigQuery prune unscanned partitions, which directly reduces both query cost and latency.

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