Techniques for generating a distributed stream processing application are provided. The techniques include obtaining a declarative description of one or more data stream processing tasks from a graph of operators, wherein the declarative description expresses at least one stream processing task, generating one or more containers that encompass a combination of one or more stream processing operators, and generating one or more execution units from the declarative description of one or more data stream processing tasks, wherein the one or more execution units are deployable across one or more distributed computing nodes, and comprise a distributed data stream processing application binary.