What is the purpose of the spark-submit script in Apache Spark?

The purpose of the spark-submit script in Apache Spark is to submit Spark jobs to a cluster. This script is a command-line tool that enables users to easily launch applications, configure their settings, and specify the resources needed for execution within a Spark cluster. When a user runs the spark-submit command, they can specify the application JAR file or Python script, alongside various configurations such as the master URL (designating which cluster manager to use), executor memory, and other runtime options.

Using spark-submit simplifies the process of deploying applications by handling the complexities of resource allocation and job scheduling across the cluster. It encapsulates the necessary configurations to ensure that the application runs efficiently in a distributed environment. While the other options mention tasks related to application development and performance management, they do not accurately describe the primary function of spark-submit, which is focused on the job submission process.