Which section of the workspace was the fastest to run?

• A. Reading
• B. Transforming
• C. Writing
• D. Loading

Answer: (B)

Understanding where time is spent in a workspace helps explain run order. After data is read into memory, the Transforming stage processes features through the configured transformers in a streaming, CPU‑bound fashion. This in‑memory processing is highly optimized, so per‑feature work happens quickly. Reading and writing, by contrast, rely on disk or network I/O and the destination’s I/O, which introduce latency and variability. Loading adds additional destination‑side work such as format conversions and commits. Because those I/O operations often dominate overall runtime, the transformation step tends to complete first and is the fastest part of the run.