A stable client API that fixes the Python version and packages for serverless code, leaving Databricks free to upgrade the server separately.
Also called environment_version.
Read more: Databricks docs
In the Ultra Transcenders books
Each book explains Environment version in context, with comparison tables and the common traps.
Terms in this definition
- API
Short for application programming interface: a contract that client code calls programmatically, for example a web API secured with tokens or the Files, Images or Responses APIs.
- Serverless
Compute tier for single Azure SQL databases that scales automatically, pauses when idle and charges by the second. It is offered in General Purpose and Hyperscale, not Business Critical, and reserved capacity does not apply.
- Databricks
Analytics platform built on Apache Spark where data is processed in notebooks; Unity Catalog is the governance model it recommends.
Related terms
- Base environment
The starting point for a serverless notebook or job: an environment version plus ready-installed libraries. Options include Standard, ML, AI and workspace base environments that admins create.
- ENVIRONMENT clause
Declares what a Python UDF needs, namely its
environment_versionanddependencies, when the function is created withCREATE FUNCTION.