In an ETL process, which sequence is correct?

• A. Load, Transform, Extract
• B. Extract, Transform, Load
• C. Transform, Extract, Load
• D. Load, Extract, Transform

Answer: (B)

In ETL, data pipelines start by extracting data from source systems to capture the raw information you need. Next, you transform it—clean, normalize, deduplicate, apply business rules, and align formats so the data is consistent and analytics-ready. Finally, you load the transformed data into the target data warehouse or data store. This order avoids pushing unstandardized data into the destination and ensures the warehouse holds clean, usable data. Although some modern setups use ELT (load, then transform inside the target system), the classic ETL sequence is Extract → Transform → Load.