Basic DBMS Concepts

1. What is DBMS?

A software system that enables the creation, management, and manipulation of databases.

2. What is RDBMS?

A type of DBMS that stores data in tables with rows and columns, enforcing relationships between data
entities.

3. What is SQL?

Structured Query Language used for accessing and manipulating relational databases.

4. What is a table?

A collection of related data entries organized in rows and columns.

5. What is a field?

A column in a table representing a specific attribute of the data.

6. What is a record?

A row in a table representing a single, complete set of related data.

7. What is a primary key?

A unique identifier for each record in a table.

8. What is a foreign key?

A field in one table that uniquely identifies a row in another table, establishing a relationship between the
two tables.

9. What is a candidate key?

An attribute, or a set of attributes, that can uniquely identify a tuple in a table.

10. What is a super key?

A set of one or more attributes that, taken collectively, uniquely identify a record in a table.
SQL Queries and Commands

11. What is the difference between DELETE and TRUNCATE?

DELETE removes specified rows and can be rolled back; TRUNCATE removes all rows and cannot be rolled
back.

12. What is the difference between WHERE and HAVING?

WHERE filters rows before grouping; HAVING filters groups after aggregation.

13. What are joins in SQL?

Operations that combine rows from two or more tables based on related columns.

14. What is an INNER JOIN?

Returns records that have matching values in both tables.

15. What is a LEFT JOIN?

Returns all records from the left table and matched records from the right table.

16. What is a RIGHT JOIN?

Returns all records from the right table and matched records from the left table.

17. What is a FULL JOIN?

Returns all records when there is a match in either left or right table.

18. What is a self join?

A join where a table is joined with itself.

19. What is a cross join?

Returns the Cartesian product of the two tables.

20. What is a subquery?

A query nested inside another query.

Normalization and Data Integrity

21. What is normalization?

The process of organizing data to reduce redundancy and improve data integrity.

22. What is denormalization?

The process of combining normalized tables to improve read performance.

23. What is 1NF?

First Normal Form; ensures that the table has only atomic (indivisible) values.

24. What is 2NF?

Second Normal Form; meets 1NF and all non-key attributes are fully functionally dependent on the primary
key.

25. What is 3NF?

Third Normal Form; meets 2NF and all attributes are only dependent on the primary key.

26. What is BCNF?

Boyce-Codd Normal Form; a stricter version of 3NF where every determinant is a candidate key.

27. What is a functional dependency?

A relationship where one attribute uniquely determines another attribute.

28. What is referential integrity?

Ensures that a foreign key value always points to an existing, valid record in the parent table.

29. What is a constraint?

A rule enforced on data columns to ensure data integrity.

30. What is a unique constraint?

Ensures that all values in a column are distinct.

Transactions and Concurrency

31. What is a transaction?

A sequence of operations performed as a single logical unit of work.

32. What are ACID properties?

Atomicity, Consistency, Isolation, Durability; properties that ensure reliable processing of database
transactions.

33. What is atomicity?

Ensures that all operations within a transaction are completed; if not, the transaction is aborted.

34. What is consistency?

Ensures that a transaction brings the database from one valid state to another.

35. What is isolation?

Ensures that concurrent transactions do not interfere with each other.

36. What is durability?

Ensures that the results of a transaction are permanently stored in the system.

37. What is concurrency control?

Mechanisms to ensure that database transactions are performed concurrently without violating data
integrity.

38. What is locking?

A mechanism to control concurrent access to data.

39. What is a deadlock?

A situation where two or more transactions are waiting indefinitely for each other to release locks.

40. What is a checkpoint?

A point in the transaction log where all previous transactions are committed to the database.
 Advanced Concepts

41. What is indexing?

A data structure that improves the speed of data retrieval operations.

42. What is a clustered index?

An index where the order of the rows in the database corresponds to the order of the index.

43. What is a non-clustered index?

An index that maintains a separate structure from the data rows.

44. What is a view?

A virtual table based on the result-set of an SQL statement.

45. What is a stored procedure?

A precompiled collection of one or more SQL statements stored on the database server.

46. What is a trigger?

A set of SQL statements that automatically execute in response to certain events on a particular table.

47. What is a cursor?

A database object used to retrieve, manipulate, and navigate through a result set row by row.

48. What is data abstraction?

The process of hiding the complexities of the database and showing only the necessary information to the
user.

49. What is an ER diagram?

Entity-Relationship diagram; a visual representation of entities and their relationships in a database.

50. What is data redundancy?

The unnecessary duplication of data within a database.

Additional Important Questions

51. What is the difference between DBMS and file system?

DBMS offers data abstraction, consistency, and security, while file systems do not provide such features.
52. What is a schema?

A blueprint or architecture of a database that defines its structure.

53. What is data independence?

The capacity to change the schema at one level without affecting the schema at the next higher level.

54. What is the difference between logical and physical data independence?

Logical: Change in logical schema without affecting applications.

Physical: Change in physical storage without affecting logical schema.

55. What is a surrogate key?

An artificial key assigned to uniquely identify each record when no natural primary key exists.

56. What is a composite key?

A key made up of two or more columns to uniquely identify a record.

57. What is a natural key?

A naturally occurring unique identifier for a record (like an email or SSN).

58. What is an anomaly in DBMS?

Problems like update, delete, and insert anomalies due to poorly designed schemas.

59. What are the different types of relationships in DBMS?

One-to-One, One-to-Many, and Many-to-Many.

60. What are the types of SQL commands?

DDL (Data Definition), DML (Data Manipulation), DCL (Data Control), and TCL (Transaction Control).

61. What is a materialized view?

A physical copy of a view that stores data for faster access.

62. What is the difference between DROP, DELETE, and TRUNCATE?

DROP removes the entire table.

DELETE removes selected rows and can be rolled back.

TRUNCATE removes all rows and can't be rolled back.

63. What is normalization’s impact on performance?

Reduces redundancy but may increase complexity of joins; balance is key.

64. What is a rollback and commit in SQL?

COMMIT saves the transaction; ROLLBACK undoes changes made in the transaction.

65. What is a data dictionary?

A centralized repository of metadata.