1.

What are the advantages of DBMS over traditional file-based

systems? 
Database management systems were developed to handle the following
difficulties of typical Fille-processing systems supported by conventional
operating systems. 
1. Data redundancy and inconsistency 
2. Difficulty in accessing data 
3. Data isolation – multiple files and formats 
4. Integrity problems 
5. Atomicity of updates 
6. Concurrent access by multiple users 
7. Security problems 
 

2. What are super, primary, candidate, and foreign keys? 

A super key is a set of attributes of a relation schema upon which all
attributes of the schema are functionally dependent. No two rows can have
the same value of super key attributes. 
A Candidate key is a minimal superkey, i.e., no proper subset of Candidate
key attributes can be a superkey. 
A Primary Key is one of the candidate keys. One of the candidate keys is
selected as most important and becomes the primary key. There cannot be
more than one primary key in a table..
A Foreign key is a field (or collection of fields) in one table that uniquely
identifies a row of another table. 
3. What is the difference between primary key and unique constraints? 
The primary key cannot have NULL value, the unique constraints can have
NULL values. There is only one primary key in a table, but there can be
multiple unique constrains. 

4.What is database normalization? 

It is a process of analyzing the given relation schemas based on their
functional dependencies and primary keys to achieve the following desirable
properties: 
1. Minimizing Redundancy 
2. Minimizing the Insertion, Deletion, And Update Anomalies Relation
schemas that do not meet the properties are decomposed into smaller
relation schemas that could meet desirable properties. 
5. Why is the use of DBMS recommended? Explain by listing some of
its major advantages?
Some of the major advantages of DBMS are as follows:
 Controlled Redundancy: DBMS supports a mechanism to control
the redundancy of data inside the database by integrating all the
 data into a single database and as data is stored in only one place,
the duplicity of data does not happen.
 Data Sharing: Sharing of data among multiple users
simultaneously can also be done in DBMS as the same database
will be shared among all the users and by different application
programs.
 Backup and Recovery Facility: DBMS minimizes the pain of
creating the backup of data again and again by providing a feature
of ‘backup and recovery’ which automatically creates the data
backup and restores the data whenever required.
 Enforcement of Integrity Constraints: Integrity Constraints are
very important to be enforced on the data so that the refined data
after putting some constraints are stored in the database and this is
followed by DBMS.
 Independence of Data: It simply means that you can change the
structure of the data without affecting the structure of any of the
application programs.
 
6. What are the differences between DDL, DML, and DCL in SQL? 
Following are some details of three. 
DDL stands for Data Definition Language. SQL queries like CREATE,
ALTER, DROP, and RENAME come under this. 
DML stands for Data Manipulation Language. SQL queries like SELECT,
INSERT, and UPDATE come under this. 
DCL stands for Data Control Language. SQL queries like GRANT and
REVOKE come under this. 
7. What is the difference between having and where clause? 
HAVING is used to specify a condition for a group or an aggregate function
used in a select statement. The WHERE clause selects before grouping. The
HAVING clause selects rows after grouping. Unlike the HAVING clause, the
WHERE clause cannot contain aggregate functions. (See this for
examples). See Having vs Where Clause? for more details 

9. What is Join? 
An SQL Join is used to combine data from two or more tables, based on a
common field between them. For example, consider the following two tables. 
Table – Student Table 
 

EnrollNoStudentNameAddress
1000 geek1 geeksquiz1
1001 geek2 geeksquiz2
1002 geek3 geeksquiz3
Table – StudentCourse Table  
CourseIDEnrollNo
1 1000
2 1000
3 1000
1 1002
2 1003
Following is a join query that shows the names of students enrolled in
different courseIDs.  
SELECT StudentCourse.CourseID, Student.StudentName
FROM StudentCourse
INNER JOIN Student
ON StudentCourse.EnrollNo = Student.EnrollNo
ORDER BY StudentCourse.CourseID;
The above query would produce the following result.  
CourseIDStudentName
1 geek1
1 geek3
2 geek1
3 geek1
9. What is Identity? 
Identity (or AutoNumber) is a column that automatically generates numeric
values. A start and increment value can be set, but most DBA leave these at
1. A GUID column also generates numbers; the value of this cannot be
controlled. Identity/GUID columns do not need to be indexed. 
10.What is a view in SQL? How to create a view?
 A view is a virtual table based on the result-set of an SQL statement. We
can create using create view syntax. 
 
CREATE VIEW view_name AS
SELECT column_name(s)
FROM table_name
WHERE condition
11.What are the uses of view? 
1. Views can represent a subset of the data contained in a table;
consequently, a view can limit the degree of exposure of the underlying
tables to the outer world: a given user may have permission to query the
view, while denied access to the rest of the base table. 
2. Views can join and simplify multiple tables into a single virtual table.
3. Views can act as aggregated tables, where the database engine
aggregates data (sum, average, etc.) and presents the calculated results as
part of the data.
4. Views can hide the complexity of data.
5. Views take very little space to store; the database contains only the
definition of a view, not a copy of all the data which it presents. 
6. Depending on the SQL engine used, views can provide extra security.
12. What is a Trigger? 
A Trigger is a code associated with insert, update or delete operations. The
code is executed automatically whenever the associated query is executed
on a table. Triggers can be useful to maintain integrity in the database. 
13. What is a stored procedure? 
A stored procedure is like a function that contains a set of operations
compiled together. It contains a set of operations that are commonly used in
an application to do some common database tasks. 
14. What is the difference between Trigger and Stored Procedure? 
 Unlike Stored Procedures, Triggers cannot be called directly. They can only
be associated with queries. 
15. What is a transaction? What are ACID properties? 
A Database Transaction is a set of database operations that must be treated
as a whole, which means either all operations are executed or none of
them. An example can be a bank transaction from one account to another
account. Either both debit and credit operations must be executed or none of
them. ACID (Atomicity, Consistency, Isolation, Durability) is a set of
properties that guarantee that database transactions are processed reliably. 

16. What are indexes? 

A database index is a data structure that improves the speed of data retrieval
operations on a database table at the cost of additional writes and the use of
more storage space to maintain the extra copy of data. Data can be stored
only in one order on a disk. To support faster access according to different
values, faster search like binary search for different values is desired, For
this purpose, indexes are created on tables. These indexes need extra space
on the disk, but they allow faster search according to different frequently
searched values. 
17. What are clustered and non-clustered Indexes? 
Clustered indexes are the index according to which data is physically stored
on a disk. Therefore, only one clustered index can be created on a given
database table. 
Non-clustered indexes don’t define the physical ordering of data, but logical
ordering. Typically, a tree is created whose leaf point to disk records. B-Tree
or B+ tree are used for this purpose. 
18. What is Denormalization?
Denormalization is a database optimization technique in which we add
redundant data to one or more tables.
19. What is CLAUSE in SQL?
A clause in SQL is a part of a query that lets you filter or customizes how you
want your data to be queried to you.
20. What is a Live Lock?
Livelock situation can be defined as when two or more processes continually
repeat the same interaction in response to changes in the other processes
without doing any useful work These processes are not in the waiting state,
and they are running concurrently. This is different from a deadlock because
in a deadlock all processes are in the waiting state.
21. What is QBE? 
Query-by-example represents a visual/graphical approach for accessing
information in a database through the use of query templates called skeleton
tables. It is used by entering example values directly into a query template to
represent what is to be achieved. QBE is used by many database systems
for personal computers. QBE is a very powerful facility that gives the user
the capability to access the information a user wants without the knowledge
of any programming language.Queries in QBE are expressed by skeleton
tables. QBE has two distinct features:

QBE has the two-dimensional syntax: Queries look like tables.

22. Why are cursors necessary in embedded SQL? 
A cursor is an object used to store the output of a query for row-by-row
processing by the application programs. SQL statements operate on a set of
data and return a set of data. On other hand, host language programs
operate on a row at a time. The cursors are used to navigate through a set of
rows returned by an embedded SQL SELECT statement. A cursor can be
compared to a pointer.
23. What is the purpose of normalization in DBMS?
Database normalization is the process of organizing the attributes of the
database to reduce or eliminate data redundancy (having the same data but
at different places).
Purpose of normalization:
It is used to remove duplicate data and database anomalies from the
relational table.
Normalization helps to reduce redundancy and complexity by examining new
data types used in the table.
It is helpful to divide the large database table into smaller tables and link
them using relationships.
It avoids duplicate data or no repeating groups into a table.
It reduces the chances for anomalies to occur in a database.
24. What is the difference between a database schema and a database
state?
The collection of information stored in a database at a particular moment in
time is called database state while the overall design of the database is
called the database schema.
25. What is the purpose of SQL?
SQL stands for Structured Query Language whose main purpose is to
interact with the relational databases in the form of inserting and
updating/modifying the data in the database.
26. Explain the concepts of a Primary key and Foreign Key.
Primary Key is used to uniquely identify the records in a database table
while Foreign Key is mainly used to link two or more tables together, as this
is a particular field(s) in one of the database tables which are the primary key
of some other table.
Example: There are 2 tables – Employee and Department. Both have one
common field/column as ‘ID’ where ID is the primary key of
the Employee table while this is the foreign key for the Department table.
27.What are the main differences between Primary key and Unique
Key?
Given below are few differences:

The main difference between the Primary key and the Unique key is that the
Primary key can never have a null value while the Unique key may consist of
a null value.
 In each table, there can be only one primary key while there can be more
than one unique key in a table.
28. What is the concept of sub-query in terms of SQL?
Sub-query is basically the query that is included inside some other query and
can also be called an inner query which is found inside the outer query.
29. What is the use of the DROP command and what are the differences
between DROP, TRUNCATE and DELETE commands?
DROP command is a DDL command which is used to drop/delete the
existing table, database, index, or view from the database.
The major difference between DROP, TRUNCATE and DELETE commands
are:
DROP and TRUNCATE commands are the DDL commands which are used
to delete tables from the database and once the table gets deleted, all the
privileges and indexes that are related to the table also get deleted. These 2
operations cannot be rolled back and so should be used only when
necessary.
DELETE command, on the other hand, is a DML Command which is also
used to delete rows from the table and this can be rolled back.
30. What is the main difference between UNION and UNION ALL?
UNION and UNION ALL are used to join the data from 2 or more tables but
UNION removes duplicate rows and picks the rows which are distinct after
combining the data from the tables whereas UNION ALL does not remove
the duplicate rows, it just picks all the data from the tables.
31. What is Correlated Subquery in DBMS?
A Subquery is also known as a nested query i.e. a query written inside some
query. When a Subquery is executed for each of the rows of the outer query
then it is termed as a Correlated Subquery.
An example of Non-Correlated Subquery is:

SELECT * from EMP WHERE ‘RIYA’ IN (SELECT Name from DEPT

WHERE EMP.EMPID=DEPT.EMPID);

Here, the inner query is not executed for each of the rows of the outer query.
32.  Explain Entity, Entity Type, and Entity Set in DBMS?
The entity is an object, place, or thing which has its independent existence in
the real world and about which data can be stored in a database.  For
Example, any person, book, etc.
Entity Type is a collection of entities that have the same attributes. For
Example, the STUDENT table contains rows in which each row is an entity
holding the attributes like name, age, and id of the students, hence
STUDENT is an Entity Type that holds the entities having the same
attributes.
Entity Set is a collection of entities of the same type. For Example, A
collection of the employees of a firm.
33. What are the different levels of abstraction in the DBMS?

There are 3 levels of data abstraction in the DBMS.

They include:
Physical Level: This is the lowest level of the data abstraction which states
how the data is stored in the database.
 Logical Level: This is the next level of the data abstraction which states the
type of the data and the relationship among the data that is stored in the
database.
View Level: This is the highest level in the data abstraction which
shows/states only a part of the database.
34 . What integrity rules exist in the DBMS?
There are two major integrity rules that exist in the DBMS.
Entity Integrity: This states a very important rule that the value of a Primary
key can never have a NULL value.
Referential Integrity: This rule is related to the Foreign key which states
that either the value of a Foreign key is a NULL value or it should be the
primary key of any other relation.
35. What is E-R model in the DBMS?
 E-R model is known as an Entity-Relationship model in the DBMS which is
based on the concept of the Entities and the relationship that exists among
these entities.
36. What is a functional dependency in the DBMS?
 This is basically a constraint that is useful in describing the relationship
among the different attributes in a relation.
Example: If there is some relation ‘R1’ which has 2 attributes as Y and Z
then the functional dependency among these 2 attributes can be shown
as Y->Z which states that Z is functionally dependent on Y.
37. What is 1NF in the DBMS?
 1NF is known as the First Normal Form.
This is the easiest form of the normalization process which states that
the domain of an attribute should have only atomic values. The objective of
this is to remove the duplicate columns that are present in the table.
38.  What is 2NF in the DBMS?
 2NF is the Second Normal Form.
Any table is said to have in the 2NF if it satisfies the following 2 conditions:

A table is in the 1NF.

 Each non-prime attribute of a table is said to be functionally dependent in
totality on the primary key.
39.  What is 3NF in the DBMS?
 3NF is the Third Normal Form.
Any table is said to have in the 3NF if it satisfies the following 2 conditions:
 A table is in the 2NF.
Each non-prime attribute of a table is said to be non-transitively dependent
on every key of the table.
40.  What is BCNF in the DBMS?
 BCNF is the Boyce Codd Normal Form which is stricter than the 3NF.
Any table is said to have in the BCNF if it satisfies the following 2 conditions:
A table is in the 3NF.
For each of the functional dependencies X->Y that exists, X is the super key
of a table.
41. What is a CLAUSE in terms of SQL?
 This is used with the SQL queries to fetch specific data as per the
requirements on the basis of the conditions that are put in the SQL. This is
very helpful in picking the selective records from the complete set of records.
For Example, There is a query that has a WHERE condition or the query with
the HAVING clause.
42.How can you get the alternate records from the table in the SQL?
 If you want to fetch the odd numbers then the following query can be used:

SELECT EmpId from (SELECT rowno,EmpId from Emp)

WHERE mod(rowno,2)=1;

If you want to fetch the even numbers, then the following query can be used:

SELECT EmpId from (SELECT rowno,EmpId from Emp)

WHERE mod(rowno,2)=0;

43.  How is the pattern matching done in the SQL?

Answer: With the help of the LIKE operator, pattern matching is possible in
the SQL.’%’ is used with the LIKE operator when it matches with the 0 or
more characters, and ‘_’ is used to match the one particular character.
Example:

SELECT * from Emp WHERE name like ‘b

%’;

SELECT * from Emp
WHERE name like ‘hans_’;

44. What is a join in the SQL?

A Join is one of the SQL statements which is used to join the data or the
rows from 2 or more tables on the basis of a common field/column among
them.
45. What are the different types of joins in SQL?
There are 4 types of SQL Joins:
 Inner Join: This type of join is used to fetch the data among the tables which
are common in both tables.
 Left Join: This returns all the rows from the table which is on the left side of
the join but only the matching rows from the table which is on the right side
of the join.
 Right Join: This returns all the rows from the table which is on the right side
of the join but only the matching rows from the table which is on the left side
of the join.
 Full Join: This returns the rows from all the tables on which the join condition
has been put and the rows which do not match hold null values.

46. What is meant by the trigger?

The trigger is one of the very important codes or programs that get
executed automatically in response to the events that occur in a table or a
view. For Example, If a new record is inserted in an employee database then
the data gets created automatically in the related tables like salary,
department, and roles tables.
47. Explain the Stored Procedure.
A Stored Procedure is a group of SQL statements in the form of a function
that has some unique name and is stored in relational database
management systems(RDBMS) and can be accessed whenever required.
48. What is RDBMS?
RDBMS is the Relational Database Management System which contains
data in the form of the tables and data is accessed on the basis of the
common fields among the tables.
49. What are the different types of relationships in the DBMS?
A Relationship in DBMS depicts an association between the tables.
Different types of relationships are:
One-to-One: This basically states that there should be a one-to-one
relationship between the tables i.e. there should be one record in both the
tables. 
One-to-Many: This states that there can be many relationships for one i.e. a
primary key table hold only one record which can have many, one, or none
records in the related table. 
Many-to-Many: This states that both the tables can be related to many other
tables. 
50.What do you mean by Entity type extension?
Compilation of similar entity types into one particular type which is grouped
together as an entity set is known as entity type extension.
51. What is conceptual design in dbms?
Conceptual design is the first stage in the database design process. The
goal at this stage is to design a database that is independent of database
software and physical details. The output of this process is a conceptual data
model that describes the main data entities, attributes, relationships, and
constraints of a given problem domain.
52. Differentiate between logical database design and physical
database design. Show how this separation leads
to data independence.
 
Parameters Logical Database Design Physical Database Design

Maps or transforms the

conceptual schema (or an ER The specifications for the stored
schema) from the high-level database in terms of physical storage
data model into a relational structures, record placement, and
database schema. indexes are designed.
Task

The mapping can proceed in

two stages:
 System-
independent
The following criteria are often used
mapping but
to guide the choice of physical
data model-
database design options:
dependent
 Tailoring the  Response Time
Choice of schemas to a  Space Utilization
criteria  specific DBMS  Transaction Throughput

DDL statements in the

language of the chosen DBMS
that specify the conceptual and
external level schemas of the
database system. But if the
DDL statements include some An initial determination of storage
physical design parameters, a structures and the access paths for
complete DDL specification the database files. This corresponds
must wait until after the to defining the internal schema in
physical  database design terms of Data Storage Definition
phase is completed. Language.
Result

The database design is divided into several phases. The logical database
design and physical database design are two of them. This separation is
generally based on the concept of the three-level architecture of DBMS,
which provides data independence. Therefore, we can say that this
separation leads to data independence because the output of the logical
database design is the conceptual and external level schemas of
the database system which is independent of the output of the physical
database design that is an internal schema.
53. What are temporary tables? When are they useful?
 Temporary tables exist solely for a particular session, or whose data
persists for the duration of the transaction. The temporary tables are
generally used to support specialized rollups or specific application
processing requirements. Unlike a permanent table, space is not allocated to
a temporary table when it is created. Space will be dynamically allocated for
the table as rows are inserted. The CREATE GLOBAL TEMPORARY TABLE
command is used to create a temporary table in Oracle.
54. Explain different types of failures that occur in the Oracle database.
Types of Failures – In the Oracle database following types of failures can
occur:
 Statement Failure· 
 Bad data type
 Insufficient space
 Insufficient Privileges (e.g., object privileges to a role)
 User Process Failure
 The user performed an abnormal disconnect
 The user’s session was abnormally terminated
 The user’s program raised an address exception
 User Error
 The user drops a table
 User damages data by modification
 Instance Failure
 Media Failure
 The user drops a table
 User damages data by modification
 Alert Logs
 Records informational and error messages
 All Instance startups and shutdowns are recorded in
the log
55. What is the main goal of RAID technology?
RAID stands for Redundant Array of Inexpensive (or sometimes
“Independent”)Disks.
RAID is a method of combining several hard disk drives into one logical unit
(two or more disks grouped together to appear as a single device to the host
system). RAID technology was developed to address the fault-tolerance and
performance limitations of conventional disk storage. It can offer fault
tolerance and higher throughput levels than a single hard drive or group of
independent hard drives. While arrays were once considered complex and
relatively specialized storage solutions, today they are easy to use and
essential for a broad spectrum of client/server applications.
Q1. What is DBMS?
Ans. Database Management System (DBMS) is a collection of
programs that enables users to store, retrieve, update, and
delete information from a database.

Q2. What is RDBMS?

Ans. A Relational Database Management system (RDBMS) is a
type of DBMS that is based on the relational model. One can
access or reassemble the data from the relational databases in
many different ways without having to reorganize the database
tables.

Q3. What is a ‘record’ in a database?

Ans. A ‘record’ is the collection of values/fields of a specific
entity.
Q4. What is a ‘field’ in a database?
Ans. A ‘field’ is an area within a record reserved for a specific
piece of data.

Q5. What are database languages? What are the

types?
Ans. Database languages are used to write or create a
database management system. There are three types: data
definition language, data manipulation language, and query
language.

Check out the best  Database Administration Courses Online 

Q6. Name the various relationships of the

database. Describe briefly.
Ans. The various relationships of the database are:

 One-to-one: Single table having drawn a relationship with

another table having similar kinds of columns.
 One-to-many: Two tables having primary and foreign key
relations.
 Many-to-many: Junction table having many tables related
to many tables.

Q7. What is ‘normalization’?

Ans. Organized data void of inconsistent dependency and
redundancy within a database is called ‘normalization.
Q8. What are the different types of
normalization?
Ans. The different types of normalization are – First Formal
Form (1NF), Second Normal Form (2NF), and Third Normal
Form (2NF).

Q9. What is the ‘primary key’?

Ans. A ‘primary key’ is a column whose values uniquely identify
every row in a table. Primary key values can never be reused.

Also Read:  Database Schema – Everything You Need To Know 

Q10. What is ‘denormalization’?

Ans. Boosting up database performance, adding redundant
data which in turn helps rid of complex data is called
‘denormalization’.

Let’s take a look at some more database interview questions

and answers.

Q11. What are the conditions to be met for a

field to be defined as a primary key?
Ans. The conditions are:

1. No two rows can have the same primary key value.

2. Every row must have a primary key value.
3. The primary key field cannot be null.
 4. Value in a primary key column can never be modified or
updated if any foreign key refers to that primary key.

Q12. What is a ‘composite key’?

Ans. A ‘composite key’ is a combination of two or more
columns in a table that can be used to uniquely identify each
row in the table.

Also Read:  Top Online Courses for IT Professionals

Q13. What is a ‘foreign key’?

Ans. A ‘foreign key’ is a field (or collection of fields) in one
table that uniquely identifies a row of another table or the same
table.

Q14. What is a ‘unique key’?

Ans. The unique key is the same as primary with the difference
being the existence of null. The unique key field allows one
value as a NULL value.

Q15. What is a ‘cursor’?

Ans. A database object which helps in manipulating data row
by row representing a result set is called a cursor.

Q16. What are the different types of cursors?

Define
Ans. The different types of cursors are:

 Dynamic: it reflects changes while scrolling.

 Static: doesn’t reflect changes while scrolling and works
on the recording of a snapshot.
 Keyset: data modification without reflection of new data is
seen.

Q17. What is ‘sub-query’?

Ans. A query contained by a query is called sub-query.

Q18. What is a ‘view’?

Ans. The views are virtual tables. Unlike Tables that contain
data, views simply contain queries that dynamically retrieve
data when used.

Q19. What is a materialized view?

Ans. Materialized views are also a view but are disk-based.
Materialized views get updates on specific duration, based
upon the interval specified in the query definition. It can be
indexed.

Q20. Define ‘join’.

Ans. Joins help in explaining the relation between different
tables.
These are some of the popular questions asked in a Database
interview. Always be prepared to answer all types of questions
— technical skills, interpersonal, leadership, or methodology. If
you are someone who has recently started your career in
database management, you can enroll in a database
certification course to get the techniques and skills required to
be an expert in the field.

Explore the  Top Online IT Courses 

Q21. Explain the meaning of extension of an

entity type.
Ans. An extension of an entity type is a collection of entities of
a particular entity type that are grouped into an entity set.

Q22. Explain concurrency control.

Ans. Concurrency control is used to manage simultaneous
operations in a database. It ensures that database integrity is
not compromised. There are two approaches in concurrency
control:

 Optimistic approach
 Pessimistic approach

Now, let’s move on to some more DBMS interview questions.

Q23. What are the advantages of DBMS?

Ans. The advantages of DBMS are:
  Restriction on unauthorized access
 Redundancy control as data is stored in a structured way 
 Multiple user interfaces
 Backup and recovery for data
 Data consistency
 Easy accessibility
 Easy data extraction and data processing 

Also Read:  Free Online Courses on Data Structure and

Algorithms

Q24. Explain checkpoint?

Ans. A Checkpoint is a mechanism in which all the previous
logs are eliminated from the system and permanently stored in
the storage disk. It declares a point before which the DBMS
was in a consistent state. 

On reaching the checkpoint, the log file is destroyed and its

update is saved in the database. A new log will then be created
with the upcoming execution operations of the transaction. It
keeps updating until the next checkpoint. Such checkpoints are
traced during transaction execution and transaction log files
are created after execution.

Q25. What are the disadvantages of file

processing systems?
Ans. The disadvantages of file processing systems are: 

 Data redundancy and inconsistency

  Data accessing is not easy – different programs are
needed to access data differently
 Concurrent access anomalies
 Data could be stored in different formats, so it could be
challenging to share
 Issues with concurrent access
 Use of many copies of the same data
 Data isolation
 Atomicity problems

Q26. Explain DBMS data abstraction. What are

its different levels?
Ans. Data abstraction is the process of hiding irrelevant
information/details from users to ease user interaction with the
database. The three levels of Data abstraction are: 

1. Physical Level: It is the lowest level of abstraction. It

specifies how data is stored in memory. Data can be
accessed through sequential or random access. 
2. Conceptual/Logical Level: This is the second-highest level
of abstraction. It stores information in the form of tables.
It specifies what data is stored and what is the
relationship among those data.
3. View Level: It is the highest level of data abstraction. In
this level, users can only view a part of the actual
database, in the form of rows and columns. It hides the
details about storage and implementation from the users.
You can also have multiple views of the same database. 

Q27. What is Functional Dependency in DBMS?

Ans. Functional dependency refers to the relationship between
two attributes, usually the non-key attributes and the primary
key of a table. There are two types of functional dependency:

 Trivial – A → B has trivial functional dependency if B is a

subset of A.
 Non-trivial – A → B has a non-trivial functional
dependency if B is not a subset of A.

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Q28. What is the difference between extension

and intension?
Ans. The intention of a database is the constant value. It is the
description of the database or the schema, which will not
change frequently and is specified during the database design
phase. On the other hand, the extension or database snapshot
of the database is the set of database values that populate the
data structures. It refers to the data at a particular time. It may
change frequently.

Let’s move on to some more database interview questions.

Q29. What is a Data Model?

Ans. Data models specify how the logical structure of a
database is modeled. They offer a collection of conceptual
tools for describing data, data relationships, data semantics,
and constraints. Data models describe the relationship
between the entities and their attributes. Some of the data
models are: 
  Hierarchical Data Model
 Network Model
 Entity-Relationship Model
 Relational Model
 Semi-Structured Data Model
 Object-Relational Data Model
 Object-Oriented Data Model

Q30. Explain correlated subquery.

Ans. Also known as a synchronized subquery, a correlated
subquery is a query nested inside another query that relies on
the outer query to return a value. Since it is correlated with a
column of the outer query, it must be re-executed for each row
of the result. Thus, during execution, the subquery is executed
first and then the correlated query.

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Q31. Explain the Database transaction.

Ans. A database transaction (DB transaction) is a unit of work
performed within a database management system – either
completed as a unit or undone as a unit. Once the transaction
is complete, either the successful completion will reflect in the
system or the transaction fails and no change will be reflected.
Database transaction processing helps in maintaining the
integrity of the database. 

Q32. What is query optimization? What are its

benefits?
Ans. Query optimization refers to the execution plan for
evaluating a query efficiently and at the least estimated cost.
Since a single query can be executed through different
methods and algorithms, query optimization helps by
specifying the most efficient way to execute a given query by
considering all the possible query plans.

The benefits of query optimization are:

 Reduces the system resources 

 Reduces the time and space complexity
 Provide the correct output faster

Q33. Explain Relational Algebra.

Ans. Relational Algebra is a procedural query language. It has a
set of operations for the relational data model. Using these
operations, you can specify basic retrieval requests or queries.
Relational Algebra takes instances of one or two relations as
input and provides a new relation as output. It uses operators
to perform queries and is carried out recursively on the relation.
The intermediate results are also considered relations. This
feature makes the algebra ‘closed’. Some of the fundamental
operations of relational algebra are:

 select
 project
 union
 set difference

Q34. Explain Relational Calculus?

Ans. Relational Calculus is a non-procedural query language.
Instead of Algebra, it uses mathematical predicate calculus. It
is not the same as differential and integral calculus in
mathematics. It is rather based on a branch of mathematical
logic known as ‘predicate calculus’.

The two types of relational calculus are:

 Tuple relational calculus

 Domain relational calculus

Q35. Explain Database Index and Index hunting.

Ans. A database index is a data structure that improves the
speed of data retrieval operations on a database. 

The procedure of boosting the collection of indexes is known

as Index hunting. It improves the speed and query performance
of the database. It can be done by various methods, such as
query optimization and query distribution.

Q36. What are integrity rules in DBMS?

Ans. Data integrity is crucial for maintaining the database. In
DBMS, integrity rules are used to inform the DBMS about some
constraints in the real world. The two types of integrity rules in
DBMS are:

 Entity Integrity
 Referential Integrity
Q37. Explain VDL and SDL.
Ans. VDL stands for View Definition Language. It describes
user views and their mapping to the conceptual schema. SDL is
short for Storage Definition Language. It represents the
mapping between two schemas.

Q38. How to communicate with an RDBMS?

Ans. To communicate with RDBMS, we will have to use SQL
(Structured Query Language). Using SQL, we can perform
various tasks such as creating a table, inserting data into it,
querying, updating data, and more.

Q39. What is the difference between a DELETE

command and TRUNCATE command?
Ans. The differences between DELETE and TRUNCATE
command are: 

DELETE Command TRUNCATE Command

Data Manipulation Language (DML) type. Data Definition Language (D

It deletes only those rows which have the It removes all the rows from
WHERE clause.

This can be rolled back. This cannot be rolled back.

The speed of execution is slow as it maintains It is faster as it does not ma

a log.
Delete uses a row lock to perform the Truncate uses a table lock
function. function.

Q40. What are the ACID properties?

Ans. ACID stands for Atomicity Consistency Isolation
Durability. ACID properties are the rules that need to be fulfilled
by every transaction to maintain integrity. The ACID properties
are:

 Atomicity: It is an indivisible series of database operations

that implies that either all transactions take place and run
to completion in one go or no execution occurs at all. 
 Consistency: This property specifies the uniformity of
data. It means that the database must be consistent
before and after the transaction.
 Isolation: It means that multiple transactions can be
executed simultaneously without interfering with each
other.
 Durability: It means that a successful transaction will be
stored in the non-volatile memory and will not be affected
by system failure. 

Conclusion
So, this is all about DBMS interview questions and answers. We
hope these database interview questions and answers will help
you ace your next interview.

FAQs related to Databases

Q1. How can I start a career in the field of Databases?

Ans. You can start a career in the field of Database by following

the below path: 1. Take online courses (various platforms like
Coursera, Edx, and Udemy offer Database courses); 2. Learn
SQL and Oracle; 3. Search online for case studies and practice
cases to get hands-on experience; 4. Look for junior database
developer roles; 5. Move into senior database jobs

Q2. What qualification do I need to become a database

administrator?

Ans. While some entry-level database jobs may require

candidates with database administrator associate degrees the
more advanced and higher-level jobs require a bachelor’s
degree in database administration, management information
systems, computer science, or a related field.

Q3. What skills do database administrators need?

Ans. Database administrators need these skills: Hard Skills:

SQL; Oracle; Linux; Unix; Windows; HTML Soft Skills: Problem-
solving; Communication; Organizational skills; Patience;
Attention to detail.

Q4. What does a database administrator do?

Ans. A database administrator ensures that the databases run

efficiently. They use specialized software to store and organize
data. They also perform some other tasks, such as data
extraction, transformation, loading, software maintenance, and
database backup and recovery.
Q5. What is the future of database jobs?

Ans. Database management systems are widely used by

organizations to increase organizational accessibility to data,
which helps them to share the data quickly and effectively
across the organization. It is crucial for any company that
wants to secure its data or process it to get valuable
information out of it. There are a lot of opportunities for
database professionals who are capable of analyzing,
managing, and securing data.