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ADR-0008 — Handler languages: Python and SQL only

Update date : 2026-05-27 21:55

Status: accepted Date: 2026-05-27

Context

Snowflake supports multiple handler languages for UDFs, stored procedures, and tasks: Python, SQL, JavaScript, Java, and Scala.

Decision

pinky-provider supports Python and SQL only. Java and Scala handlers are out of scope permanently.

Consequences

  • No handler language detection complexity — two paths, that's it.
  • pinky targets Python data engineers. If you're not writing Python, you're not using pinky.
  • JavaScript is excluded: it predates Snowpark and has no ecosystem advantage over Python in Snowflake.
  • Java/Scala exclusion is not a gap — it's a positioning decision. Teams using Java/Scala on Snowflake have different tooling needs and are not the target audience.