Databricks Databricks-Certified-Data-Engineer-Associate Databricks Certified Data Engineer Associate Exam Exam Practice Test

Delta Live Tables is a tool that enables data engineers to build and manage reliable data pipelines with minimal code. One of the features of Delta Live Tables is data quality monitoring, which allows data engineers to define quality expectations for their data and automatically check them at every step of the pipeline. Data quality monitoring can help detect and resolve data quality issues, such as missing values, duplicates, outliers, or schema changes. Data quality monitoring can also generate alerts and reports on the quality level of the data, and enable data engineers to troubleshoot and fix problems quickly. References: Delta Live Tables Overview, Data Quality Monitoring

The expected behavior when a batch of data containing data that violates the expectation is processed is that the job will fail. This is because the expectation clause has the ON VIOLATION FAIL UPDATE option, which means that if any record in the batch does not meet the expectation, the entire batch will be rejected and the job will fail. This option is useful for enforcing strict data quality rules and preventing invalid data from entering the target dataset.

Option A is not correct, as the ON VIOLATION FAIL UPDATE option does not drop the records that violate the expectation, but fails the entire batch. To drop the records that violate the expectation and record them as invalid in the event log, the ON VIOLATION DROP RECORD option should be used.

Option C is not correct, as the ON VIOLATION FAIL UPDATE option does not drop the records that violate the expectation, but fails the entire batch. To drop the records that violate the expectation and load them into a quarantine table, the ON VIOLATION QUARANTINE RECORD option should be used.

Option D is not correct, as the ON VIOLATION FAIL UPDATE option does not add the records that violate the expectation, but fails the entire batch. To add the records that violate the expectation and record them as invalid in the event log, the ON VIOLATION LOG RECORD option should be used.

Option E is not correct, as the ON VIOLATION FAIL UPDATE option does not add the records that violate the expectation, but fails the entire batch. To add the records that violate the expectation and flag them as invalid in a field added to the target dataset, the ON VIOLATION FLAG RECORD option should be used.

References:

• Delta Live Tables Expectations
• [Databricks Data Engineer Professional Exam Guide]

In the given command, a data engineer is trying to create a table in Databricks using data from an SQLite database. The correct option to fill in the blank is “sqlite” because it specifies the type of database being connected to in a JDBC connection string. The USING clause should be followed by the format of the data, and since we are connecting to an SQLite database, “sqlite” would be appropriate here. References:

• Create a table using JDBC
• JDBC connection string
• SQLite JDBC driver

Auto Loader provides a Structured Streaming source called cloudFiles that can process new data files as they arrive in cloud storage without any additional setup. Auto Loader uses a scalable key-value store to track ingestion progress and ensure exactly-once semantics. Auto Loader can ingest various file formats and load them into Delta Lake tables. Auto Loader is recommended for incremental data ingestion with Delta Live Tables, which extends the functionality of Structured Streaming and allows you to write declarative Python or SQL code to deploy a production-quality data pipeline. References: What is Auto Loader?, What is Auto Loader? | Databricks on AWS, Solved: How does Auto Loader ingest data? - Databricks - 5629

he approach that can be used to identify the owner of new_table is to review the Owner field in the table’s page in Data Explorer. Data Explorer is a web-based interface that allows users to browse, create, and manage data objects such as tables, views, and functions in Databricks1. The table’s page in Data Explorer provides various information about the table, such as its schema, partitions, statistics, history, and permissions2. The Owner field shows the name and email address of the user who created or owns the table3. The data engineer can use this information to contact the table owner and request for permission to access the table.

The other options are not correct or reliable for identifying the owner of new_table. Reviewing the Permissions tab in the table’s page in Data Explorer can show the users and groups who have access to the table, but not necessarily the owner4. Reviewing the Owner field in the table’s page in the cloud storage solution can be misleading, as the owner of the data files may not be the same as the owner of the table5. There is a way to identify the owner of the table, as explained above, so option E is false.

References:

• 1: Data Explorer | Databricks on AWS
• 2: Table details | Databricks on AWS
• 3: Set owner when creating a view in databricks sql - Databricks - 9978
• 4: Table access control | Databricks on AWS
• 5: External tables | Databricks on AWS

 The keyword that can be used to compact the small files associated with a Delta table is OPTIMIZE. The OPTIMIZE command performs file compaction on a Delta table by rewriting a set of small files into a set of larger files1. This can improve the performance of queries that scan the table by reducing the number of files that need to be read and the amount of metadata that needs to be processed1. The OPTIMIZE command can also optionally sort the data within each file by a given set of columns, which can further improve the query performance by enabling data skipping and predicate pushdown1. The OPTIMIZE command can be applied to the whole table or to a specific partition of the table1.

The other keywords are not suitable for compacting the small files associated with a Delta table. REDUCE is a keyword used in the SQL syntax for aggregating data using a user-defined function2. COMPACTION is not a valid keyword in SQL or Python. REPARTITION is a keyword used in the Python syntax for changing the number of partitions of a DataFrame or an RDD3. VACUUM is a keyword used to remove files that are no longer referenced by a Delta table and are older than a retention threshold4.

References:

• 1: OPTIMIZE | Databricks on AWS
• 2: REDUCE | Databricks on AWS
• 3: repartition | Databricks on AWS
• 4: VACUUM | Databricks on AWS

This approach would allow the data engineering team to use the existing SQL program and add some logic to control the execution of the final query based on the day of the week. They could use the datetime module in Python to get the current date and check if it is a Sunday. If so, they could run the final query, otherwise they could skip it. This way, they could schedule the program to run every day without changing the data model or the source table. References: PySpark SQL Module, Python datetime Module, Databricks Jobs

References: Create a table using SQL | Databricks on AWS, Create a table using SQL - Azure Databricks, Delta Lake Quickstart - Azure Databricks

A temporary view is a relational object that is defined in the metastore and points to an existing DataFrame. It does not copy or store any physical data, but only saves the query that defines the view. The lifetime of a temporary view is tied to the SparkSession that was used to create it, so it does not persist across different sessions or applications. A temporary view is useful for accessing the same data multiple times within the same notebook or session, without incurring additional storage costs. The other options are either materialized (A, E), persistent (B, C), or not relational objects ©. References: Databricks Documentation - Temporary View, Databricks Community - How do temp views actually work?, Databricks Community - What’s the difference between a Global view and a Temp view?, Big Data Programmers - Temporary View in Databricks.

A webhook alert destination is a notification destination that allows Databricks to send HTTP POST requests to a third-party endpoint when an alert is triggered. This enables the data engineer to integrate Databricks alerts with their preferred messaging or collaboration platform, such as Slack, Microsoft Teams, or PagerDuty. To set up a webhook alert destination, the data engineer needs to create and configure a webhook connector in their messaging platform, and then add the webhook URL to the Databricks notification destination. After that, the data engineer can create an alert for their Databricks SQL query, and select the webhook alert destination as the notification destination. The alert can be configured with a custom condition, such as when the number of stores with $0 in sales is greater than zero, and a custom message template, such as “Alert: {number_of_stores} stores have $0 in sales”. The alert can also be configured with a recurrence interval, such as every hour, to check the query result periodically. When the alert condition is met, the data engineer and their team will receive a notification via the messaging webhook, with the custom message and a link to the Databricks SQL query. The other options are either not suitable for sending notifications via a messaging webhook (A, B, E), or not suitable for sending recurring notifications ©. References: Databricks Documentation - Manage notification destinations, Databricks Documentation - Create alerts for Databricks SQL queries, Databricks Documentation - Configure alert conditions and messages.

JSON data is a text-based format that represents data as a collection of name-value pairs. By default, when Auto Loader infers the schema of JSON data, it treats all columns as strings. This is because JSON data can have varying data types for the same column across different files or records, and Auto Loader does not attempt to reconcile these differences. For example, a column named “age” may have integer values in some files, but string values in others. To avoid data loss or errors, Auto Loader infers the column as a string type. However, Auto Loader also provides an option to infer more precise column types based on the sample data. This option is called cloudFiles.inferColumnTypes and it can be set to true or false. When set to true, Auto Loader tries to infer the exact data types of the columns, such as integers, floats, booleans, or nested structures. When set to false, Auto Loader infers all columns as strings. The default value of this option is false. References: Configure schema inference and evolution in Auto Loader, Schema inference with auto loader (non-DLT and DLT), Using and Abusing Auto Loader’s Inferred Schema, Explicit path to data or a defined schema required for Auto loader.

The Auto Stop feature allows the SQL endpoint to automatically stop after a specified period of inactivity. This can help reduce the cost and resource consumption of the SQL endpoint, as it will only run when it is needed to refresh the dashboard or execute queries. The data engineer can configure the Auto Stop setting for the SQL endpoint from the SQL Endpoints UI, by selecting the desired idle time from the Auto Stop dropdown menu. The default idle time is 120 minutes, but it can be set to as low as 15 minutes or as high as 240 minutes. Alternatively, the data engineer can also use the SQL Endpoints REST API to set the Auto Stop setting programmatically. References: SQL Endpoints UI, SQL Endpoints REST API, Refreshing SQL Dashboard

Databricks Repos is a visual Git client and API in Databricks that supports common Git operations such as commit, pull, push, branch management, and visual comparison of diffs when committing1. However, merge is not supported in the Git dialog2. You need to use the Repos UI or your Git provider to merge branches3. Merge is a way to combine the commit history from one branch into another branch1. During a merge, a merge conflict is encountered when Git cannot automatically combine code from one branch into another. Merge conflicts require manual resolution before a merge can be completed1. References: 4: Run Git operations on Databricks Repos4, 1: CI/CD techniques with Git and Databricks Repos1, 3: Collaborate in Repos3, 2: Databricks Repos - What it is and how we can use it2.

Databricks Repos is a visual Git client and API in Databricks that supports common Git operations such as commit, pull, push, merge, and branch management. However, to clone a remote Git repository to a Databricks repo, you must use the Databricks UI or API. You cannot clone a Git repo using the CLI through a cluster’s web terminal, as the files won’t display in the Databricks UI1. References: 1: Run Git operations on Databricks Repos | Databricks on AWS2

Structured Streaming uses checkpointing and write-ahead logs to record the offset range of the data being processed in each trigger. This ensures that the engine can reliably track the exact progress of the processing and handle any kind of failure by restarting and/or reprocessing. Checkpointing is the mechanism of saving the state of a streaming query to fault-tolerant storage (such as HDFS) so that it can be recovered after a failure. Write-ahead logs are files that record the offset range of the data being processed in each trigger and are written to the checkpoint location before the processing starts. These logs are used to recover the query state and resume processing from the last processed offset range in case of a failure. References: Structured Streaming Programming Guide, Fault Tolerance Semantics

Auto Loader is a Structured Streaming source that incrementally and efficiently processes new data files as they arrive in cloud storage. It supports both Python and SQL in Delta Live Tables, which are ideal for building streaming data pipelines. Auto Loader can handle near real-time ingestion of millions of files per hour and provide exactly-once guarantees when writing data into Delta Lake. Auto Loader is not designed for dashboard, machine learning, serverless, or batch workloads, which have different requirements and characteristics. References: What is Auto Loader?, Delta Live Tables

The STREAM function is used to process data from a streaming live table or view, which is a table or view that contains data that has been added only since the last pipeline update. Streaming live tables and views are stateful, meaning that they retain the state of the previous pipeline run and only process new data based on the current query. This is useful for incremental processing of streaming or batch data sources. The customers table in the query is a streaming live table, which means that it contains the latest data from the source. The STREAM function enables the query to read the data from the customers table incrementally and create another streaming live table named loyal_customers, which contains the customer IDs of the customers with high loyalty level. References: Difference between LIVE TABLE and STREAMING LIVE TABLE, CREATE STREAMING TABLE, Load data using streaming tables in Databricks SQL.

In Delta Live Tables (DLT), when configured to run in Continuous Pipeline Mode, particularly in a production environment, the system is designed to continuously process and update data as it becomes available. This mode keeps the compute resources active to handle ongoing data processing and automatically updates all datasets defined in the pipeline at predefined intervals. Once the pipeline is manually stopped, the compute resources are terminated to conserve resources and reduce costs. This mode is suitable for production environments where datasets need to be kept up-to-date with the latest data.

References:Databricks documentation on Delta Live Tables: Delta Live Tables Guide

Databricks Repos is a visual Git client and API in Databricks that supports common Git operations such as cloning, committing, pushing, pulling, and branch management. Databricks Notebooks versioning is a legacy feature that allows users to link notebooks to GitHub repositories and perform basic Git operations. However, Databricks Notebooks versioning does not support the use of multiple branches for development work, which is an advantage of using Databricks Repos. With Databricks Repos, users can create and manage branches for different features, experiments, or bug fixes, and merge, rebase, or resolve conflicts between them. Databricks recommends using a separate branch for each notebook and following data science and engineering code development best practices using Git for version control, collaboration, and CI/CD. References: Git integration with Databricks Repos - Azure Databricks | Microsoft Learn, Git version control for notebooks (legacy) | Databricks on AWS, Databricks Repos Is Now Generally Available - New ‘Files’ Feature in …, Databricks Repos - What it is and how we can use it | Adatis.

 Delta Live Tables expectations are optional clauses that apply data quality checks on each record passing through a query. An expectation consists of a description, a boolean statement, and an action to take when a record fails the expectation. The ON VIOLATION clause specifies the action to take, which can be one of the following: warn, drop, or fail. The drop action means that invalid records are dropped from the target dataset before data is written to the target. The failure is reported as a metric for the dataset, which can be viewed by querying the Delta Live Tables event log. The event log contains information such as the number of records that violate an expectation, the number of records dropped, and the number of records written to the target dataset. References:

• Manage data quality with Delta Live Tables
• Monitor Delta Live Tables pipelines
• Delta Live Tables SQL language reference

 To append a new record to an existing Delta table, you can use the INSERT INTO statement with the VALUES clause. This statement will insert one or more rows into the table with the specified values. Option A is the only code block that follows this syntax correctly. Option B is incorrect, as it uses the UNION operator, which will return a new table that is the union of two tables, not append to an existing table. Option C is incorrect, as it uses the INSERT VALUES statement, which is not a valid SQL syntax. Option D is incorrect, as it uses the UPDATE statement, which will modify existing rows in the table, not append new rows. Option E is incorrect, as it uses the UPDATE VALUES statement, which is also not a valid SQL syntax. References: Insert data into a table using SQL | Databricks on AWS, Insert data into a table using SQL - Azure Databricks, Delta Lake Quickstart - Azure Databricks

When migrating to Delta Live Tables (DLT) with a data pipeline that involves different programming languages across various data layers, the migration does not require unifying the pipeline into a single language. Delta Live Tables support multi-language pipelines, allowing data engineers and data analysts to work in their preferred languages, such as Python for data engineering tasks (raw, bronze, and silver layers) and SQL for data analytics tasks (gold layer). This capability is particularly beneficial in collaborative settings and leverages the strengths of each language for different stages of data processing.

References:Databricks documentation on Delta Live Tables: Delta Live Tables Guide

 In a medallion architecture, a common data design pattern for lakehouses, data flows from Bronze to Silver to Gold layer tables, with each layer progressively improving the structure and quality of data. Bronze tables store raw data ingested from various sources, while Silver tables apply minimal transformations and cleansing to create an enterprise view of the data. Silver tables can also join and enrich data from different Bronze tables to provide a more complete and consistent view of the data. Therefore, option D is the correct answer, as Silver tables contain a more refined and cleaner view of data than Bronze tables. Option A is incorrect, as it is the opposite of the correct answer. Option B is incorrect, as Silver tables do not necessarily contain aggregates, but can also store detailed records. Option C is incorrect, as Silver tables may contain less data than Bronze tables, depending on the transformations and cleansing applied. Option E is incorrect, as Silver tables may contain more data than Bronze tables, depending on the joins and enrichments applied. References: What is a Medallion Architecture?, Transforming Bronze Tables in Silver Tables, What is the medallion lakehouse architecture?

Cron syntax is a tool that can be used to represent and submit a complex run schedule programmatically. Cron syntax is a string of six fields that specify the frequency, date, and time of a job run. For example, the cron expression 0 0 12 * * ? means run the job at 12:00 PM every day. The data engineer can use the Databricks REST API to create or update a job with a cron schedule. The data engineer can also use the Databricks CLI to create or update a job with a cron schedule by using a JSON file that contains the cron expression. The other tools are either invalid or not suitable for representing and submitting a complex run schedule programmatically. References: Schedule a job, Jobs API, Databricks CLI, Cron expressions

The workspace administrator is the only individual who can transfer ownership of the Delta tables in Data Explorer, assuming the original data engineer no longer has access. The workspace administrator has the highest level of permissions in the workspace and can manage all resources, users, and groups. The other options are either not possible or not sufficient to perform the ownership transfer. The Databricks account representative is not involved in the workspace management. The transfer is possible and not dependent on the original data engineer. The new lead data engineer may not have the necessary permissions to access or modify the Delta tables, unless granted by the workspace administrator or the original data engineer before leaving. References: Workspace access control, Manage Unity Catalog object ownership.

 Databricks SQL allows users to schedule queries to run automatically at a specified frequency and time zone. This can help users to keep their dashboards or alerts updated with the latest data. To schedule a query, users need to do the following steps:

• In the Query Editor, click Schedule > Add schedule to open a menu with schedule settings.
• Choose when to run the query. Use the dropdown pickers to specify the frequency, period, starting time, and time zone. Optionally, select the Show cron syntax checkbox to edit the schedule in Quartz Cron Syntax.
• Choose More options to show optional settings. Users can also choose a name for the schedule, and a SQL warehouse to power the query.
• Click Create. The query will run automatically according to the schedule.

The other options are incorrect because they do not refer to the correct location or frequency to schedule the query. The query’s page in Databricks SQL is the place where users can edit, run, or schedule the query. The SQL endpoint’s page in Databricks SQL is the place where users can manage the SQL warehouses and SQL endpoints. The Jobs UI is the place where users can create, run, or schedule jobs that execute notebooks, JARs, or Python scripts. References: Schedule a query, What are Databricks SQL alerts?, Jobs.

To create a table in Databricks using data from an SQLite database, the correct syntax involves specifying the format of the data source. The format in the case of using JDBC (Java Database Connectivity) with SQLite is specified by the org.apache.spark.sql.jdbc format. This format allows Spark to interface with various relational databases through JDBC. Here is how the command should be structured:

CREATE TABLE jdbc_customer360

USING org.apache.spark.sql.jdbc

OPTIONS (

url "jdbc:sqlite:/customers.db",

dbtable "customer360"

)

The USING org.apache.spark.sql.jdbc line specifies that the JDBC data source is being used, enabling Spark to interact with the SQLite database via JDBC.

References:Databricks documentation on JDBC: Connecting to SQL Databases using JDBC

The MERGE command can be used to upsert data from a source table, view, or DataFrame into a target Delta table. It allows you to specify conditions for matching and updating existing records, and inserting new records when no match is found. This way, you can avoid writing duplicate records into a Delta table1. The other commands (DROP, IGNORE, APPEND, INSERT) do not have this functionality and may result in duplicate records or data loss234. References: 1: Upsert into a Delta Lake table using merge | Databricks on AWS 2: SQL DELETE | Databricks on AWS 3: SQL INSERT INTO | Databricks on AWS 4: SQL UPDATE | Databricks on AWS

The query performing a streaming hop from raw data to a Bronze table is identified by using the Spark streaming read capability and then writing to a Bronze table. Let's analyze the options:

• Option A: Utilizes .writeStream but performs a complete aggregation which is more characteristic of a roll-up into a summarized table rather than a hop into a Bronze table.
• Option B: Also uses .writeStream but calculates an average, which again does not typically represent the raw to Bronze transformation, which usually involves minimal transformations.
• Option C: This uses a basic .write with .mode("append") which is not a streaming operation, and hence not suitable for real-time streaming data transformation to a Bronze table.
• Option D: It employs spark.readStream.load() to ingest raw data as a stream and then writes it out with .writeStream, which is a typical pattern for streaming data into a Bronze table where raw data is captured in real-time and minimal transformation is applied. This approach aligns with the concept of a Bronze table in a modern data architecture, where raw data is ingested continuously and stored in a more accessible format.

References:Databricks documentation on Structured Streaming: Structured Streaming in Databricks

Bronze tables are the first layer of a medallion architecture, which is a data design pattern used to organize data in a lakehouse. Bronze tables contain raw data ingested from various sources, such as RDBMS data, JSON files, IoT data, etc. The table structures in this layer correspond to the source system table structures “as-is”, along with any additional metadata columns that capture the load date/time, process ID, etc. The only transformation applied to the raw data in this layer is to apply a schema, which defines the column names and data types of the table. The schema can be inferred from the data source or specified explicitly. Applying a schema to the raw data enables the use of SQL and other structured query languages to access and analyze the data. Therefore, option E is the correct answer. References: What is a Medallion Architecture?, Raw Data Ingestion into Delta Lake Bronze tables using Azure Synapse Mapping Data Flow, Apache Spark + Delta Lake concepts, Delta Lake Architecture & Azure Databricks Workspace.