What does "fixed_len_byte_array" mean?

Question

I'm using the parquet file. I've found that parquet file has multiple data types, such as int64,int32,boolean,binary,float,double,int96 and fixed_len_byte_array.

I know int64,int32,int96,boolean,binary,float and double. But I can't understand ‘fixed_len_byte_array’.

What does "fixed_len_byte_array" mean?

Answer 1

It's a normal byte array, only it's size is prefixed for better or worse, you cant change it.

You can see example of usage in

https://github.com/apache/parquet-format/blob/master/LogicalTypes.md