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SQL Interview Topics (1)

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SQL Interview Topics (1)

Uploaded by

captainleviackerman911
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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SQL Interview Topics and Questions Guide

Core Database Concepts


Database Architecture

Interview topics to master:

● PostgreSQL architecture and components


● Catalog tables and system tables
● Replication strategies and methods
● Backup and recovery approaches
● Database performance tuning fundamentals
● ACID properties and their importance
● Referential integrity constraints
● Database normalization and normal forms
● Connection pooling concepts
● External tables and their uses

Common questions in this area:

1. How would you construct a database for 1000 users and determine its size?
2. In which scenarios would you use clusters instead of replication?
3. What happens during database connection pooling and when are connections established?
4. Can you explain the different normal forms and when to use each?
5. How does PostgreSQL handle catalog tables and what are they used for?

Database Objects

Interview topics to master:

● Stored Procedures and their usage


● Triggers and their types
● Views vs Materialized Views
● Constraints and their implementation
● Cursors and their applications
● With clause and its usage
● Autonomous transactions
● Packages and their benefits
● Grants and privileges
● Synonyms in databases

Common questions in this area:

1. Can we insert, update, or delete data through a view?


2. What happens to underlying tables when dropping a materialized view?
3. What are the key differences between truncate and delete operations?
4. How do autonomous transactions work and when should they be used?
5. What are the benefits of using packages in database development?

Query Optimization
Interview topics to master:

● Index types and implementations


● Join algorithms and their efficiency
● Query execution plans
● Performance tuning techniques
● Parallel query processing
● Statistics and optimization
● Bitmap indexes
● Covering and composite indexes
● Query plan analysis
● Table partitioning strategies

Common questions in this area:

1. How would you identify and analyze a long-running query?


2. What's the difference between clustered and non-clustered indexes?
3. How does a B-tree work in indexing?
4. When would you choose different types of join algorithms?
5. What steps would you take to tune SQL queries?

SQL Programming

Interview topics to master:

● Window functions
● Recursive CTEs
● Pivot queries
● Conditional aggregation
● String manipulation
● Date handling
● NULL handling
● Aggregate functions
● Self joins
● Cross apply operator

Common questions in this area:

1. Given two dates, how would you generate sequential week numbers between them?
2. How can you find unique rows without using DISTINCT or UNIQUE?
3. What happens when you add NULL + 90?
4. How would you transform a string into comma-separated values?
5. What's the difference between RANK and DENSE_RANK?

Data Management

Interview topics to master:

● Binary file storage


● Duplicate handling
● Large dataset processing
● Data migration strategies
● SQL injection prevention
● High availability design
● Log shipping
● Database mirroring
● Clustering
● Backup strategies

Common questions in this area:

1. How would you process a 1 million row file efficiently?


2. What approaches would you use to handle binary file storage?
3. How would you delete duplicate records from a large table?
4. What considerations are important when designing for high availability?
5. How do you prevent SQL injection attacks?

Complex Scenario Questions


Performance Scenarios

1. You have a weekly data load and a search application with 25 different data points taking 30 seconds
to return results. How would you improve performance without changing the existing schema?
2. Why might a TRUNCATE statement take an unusually long time to complete?
3. Given optimized indexes, what other approaches would you consider for improving query
performance?

Design Scenarios

1. How would you design a high-availability architecture for a critical business application?
2. What considerations would you make when designing a database that needs to scale globally?
3. How would you approach designing a system that needs to handle both OLTP and OLAP workloads?

Troubleshooting Scenarios

1. Describe a database-related issue you encountered and how you solved it.
2. How would you diagnose and resolve deadlock situations?
3. What steps would you take to investigate sudden performance degradation?

Sample Data Problems


Employee and Department Analytics

1. Find employees with salaries greater than their department's average.


2. Calculate years of experience based on joining date.
3. Find the first and second highest salaries.
4. List employees from the 3rd to 8th record.
5. Find the 10th highest salary.

Customer and Product Analysis

1. Find all customers whose names start with 'a'.


2. Calculate average population by state.
3. Find students with perfect scores in both Mathematics and Physics.
4. Find product names based on partial name matches.
5. Analyze order patterns for specific months.

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