If you query a PDT in Development Mode without changes, which version of the PDT will Looker query?

When querying a Persistent Derived Table (PDT) in Development Mode without making any changes, Looker queries the Production version of the PDT. This behavior is fundamental to how Looker handles the development process to ensure that developers can safely experiment with changes without impacting the existing production environment.

In Development Mode, the developer has the ability to create and modify LookML, which includes creating or altering PDTs. However, if no changes have been made to the PDT, Looker continues to use the stable, production-ready version. This allows for a clear separation between development and live systems, ensuring that users querying the data do not experience any disruptions or inconsistencies while the developer is working on their LookML.

When changes are officially deployed to production, that is when the Development version would become the new Production version, but until such changes are made and saved, the Production version remains in effect even in Development Mode. This design approach supports robust data modeling practices while enabling developers to freely test and iterate on their LookML code without introducing errors into the production datasets.