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SQL_Interview_Questions

The document contains a series of SQL interview questions and their corresponding answers, covering topics such as identifying duplicates, different types of joins, and aggregate functions. It also addresses performance optimization techniques and specific SQL operations like pivoting and calculating running totals. Overall, it serves as a comprehensive guide for preparing for SQL-related interviews.

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Jha Avinash
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© © All Rights Reserved
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Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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SQL_Interview_Questions

The document contains a series of SQL interview questions and their corresponding answers, covering topics such as identifying duplicates, different types of joins, and aggregate functions. It also addresses performance optimization techniques and specific SQL operations like pivoting and calculating running totals. Overall, it serves as a comprehensive guide for preparing for SQL-related interviews.

Uploaded by

Jha Avinash
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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SQL Interview Questions and Answers

Q: How do you identify duplicate records in a table?


A: SELECT column1, column2, COUNT(*) FROM table_name GROUP BY column1, column2
HAVING COUNT(*) > 1;

Q: How can you delete duplicates while keeping just one entry?
A: DELETE FROM table_name WHERE id NOT IN (SELECT MIN(id) FROM table_name GROUP
BY column1, column2);

Q: What's the difference between UNION and UNION ALL?


A: UNION removes duplicate rows, while UNION ALL includes all rows including duplicates.

Q: When should you use RANK, ROW_NUMBER, and DENSE_RANK?


A: ROW_NUMBER() assigns unique row numbers. RANK() gives the same rank to duplicates but
skips the next. DENSE_RANK() assigns the same rank to duplicates without skipping numbers.

Q: How do you find records in one table that dont exist in another?
A: SELECT * FROM table1 WHERE NOT EXISTS (SELECT 1 FROM table2 WHERE table1.id =
table2.id);

Q: How do you retrieve the second-highest salary for each department?


A: SELECT department, salary FROM (SELECT department, salary, DENSE_RANK() OVER
(PARTITION BY department ORDER BY salary DESC) AS rnk FROM employees) AS ranked
WHERE rnk = 2;

Q: How do you find employees earning more than their manager?


A: SELECT e.name, e.salary FROM employees e JOIN employees m ON e.manager_id = m.id
WHERE e.salary > m.salary;

Q: What's the key difference between INNER JOIN and LEFT JOIN?
A: INNER JOIN returns only matching records, while LEFT JOIN returns all records from the left
table and matching records from the right table.

Q: How would you swap gender values (M F) in a table using SQL?


A: UPDATE employees SET gender = CASE WHEN gender = 'M' THEN 'F' WHEN gender = 'F'
THEN 'M' END;

Q: How do different types of joins impact the number of records in the output?
A: INNER JOIN: Only common records.
LEFT JOIN: All left records, NULLs for missing right.
RIGHT JOIN: All right records, NULLs for missing left.
FULL OUTER JOIN: All records from both tables.

Q: How do you retrieve the nth highest salary from a table?


A: SELECT DISTINCT salary FROM employees ORDER BY salary DESC LIMIT 1 OFFSET n-1;

Q: Whats the difference between HAVING and WHERE in SQL?


A: WHERE filters records before aggregation, while HAVING filters records after aggregation.

Q: How do you pivot rows into columns in SQL?


A: SELECT department, SUM(CASE WHEN role = 'Manager' THEN salary END) AS
Manager_Salary, SUM(CASE WHEN role = 'Engineer' THEN salary END) AS Engineer_Salary
FROM employees GROUP BY department;

Q: How do you calculate a running total in SQL?


A: SELECT name, salary, SUM(salary) OVER (ORDER BY id) AS running_total FROM employees;

Q: How would you identify and handle orphan records in a database?


A: SELECT * FROM child_table WHERE parent_id NOT IN (SELECT id FROM parent_table);

Q: Whats the difference between DELETE, TRUNCATE, and DROP?


A: DELETE removes specific rows with WHERE. TRUNCATE removes all rows without logging
transactions. DROP removes the entire table.

Q: How do you find the longest consecutive sequence of values in a column?


A: SELECT value, COUNT(*) FROM (SELECT value, value - ROW_NUMBER() OVER (ORDER BY
value) AS grp FROM table_name) AS subquery GROUP BY grp ORDER BY COUNT(*) DESC
LIMIT 1;

Q: What is a self-join, and when would you use it?


A: A self-join is when a table joins itself.
Example: SELECT e1.name, e2.name AS colleague FROM employees e1 JOIN employees e2 ON
e1.manager_id = e2.id;

Q: How do you find the earliest and latest records for each group in a table?
A: SELECT department, MIN(join_date) AS earliest, MAX(join_date) AS latest FROM employees
GROUP BY department;

Q: How do you optimize SQL queries for better performance?


A: - Use indexes
- Avoid SELECT *
- Use EXPLAIN ANALYZE
- Normalize/denormalize appropriately
- Use partitioning and indexing.

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