SQL Interview Questions

Top SQL Interview Questions - Beginners

1. What do you understand by database, and what does it have?

A database can be defined as the structured form of data storage from which data can
be retrieved and managed based on requirements. Basically, a database consists of
tables where data is stored in an organized manner. Each table consists of rows and
columns to store data. Data can be stored, modified, updated, and accessed easily in a
database. For instance, a bank management database or school management database
are a few examples of databases.

2. What are DBMS and RDBMS?

DBMS – Database Management System.

DBMS is the software that allows storing, modifying, and retrieving data from a
database. And it is a group of programs that act as the interface between data and
applications. DBMS supports receiving queries from applications and retrieving data
from the database.

RDBMS – Relational Database Management System

Like DBMS, RDBMS is also the software that allows storing, modifying, and retrieving
data from a database but a RELATIONAL database. In a relational database, the data
in the tables have a relationship. Besides, RDBMS is useful when data in tables are
being managed securely and consistently.

3. What are Query and Query language?

A query is nothing but a request sent to a database to retrieve data or information. The
required data can be retrieved from a table or many tables in the database.

Query languages use various types of queries to retrieve data from databases. SQL,
Datalog, and AQL are a few examples of query languages; however, SQL is known to
be the widely used query language. SQL returns data as columns and rows in a table,
whereas other languages return data in other forms, like graphs, charts, etc.

4. What do you mean by subquery?

It is a query that exists inside the statements such as SELECT, INSERT, UPDATE, and
DELETE. It may exist inside a subquery too. A subquery is also known as an inner query
or inner select. The statement with a subquery is an outer query or outer select.

Let’s see the example shown below in which the maximum unit price is the result that
will be returned by the subquery using the SELECT statement. Also, orders is the value
that will be returned by the outer query using the SELECT statement.

5. What is SQL, and mention its uses?

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SQL – Structured Query Language

SQL is known as the query programming language. It uses SQL queries to store, modify
and retrieve data into and from databases. Briefly, SQL inserts, updates, and deletes
data in databases; creates new databases and new tables; creates views and stored
procedures; and sets permissions on the database objects.

6. What is Dynamic SQL, and when can you use it?

Dynamic SQL is the programming method that allows building SQL statements during
runtime. You can use dynamic SQL when you do not know the full text of the SQL
statements used in the program until runtime. Moreover, dynamic SQL can execute SQL
statements that are not supported by static SQL programs. So, Dynamic SQL helps to
build more flexible applications.

7. What do you understand by tables and fields in a database?

Tables are the database objects where data is stored logically. Like a spreadsheet, data
is stored in the form of rows and columns in a database table. A row in a table
represents a record, and columns represent the different fields. Fields have the data
types such as text, dates, numbers, and links.

For example, consider the below customer database in which rows consist of the
company names and columns consist of the various details of customers like first name,
last name, age, location, etc. Here, number 1 indicates a record, number 2 indicates a
field, and number 3 indicates the field value.

8. What are the different types of tables used in SQL?

The following are the table types used in SQL:

 Partitioned tables
 Temporary tables
 System tables
 Wide tables

9. What are temporary tables?

Temporary tables only store data during the current session, and they will be dropped
once the session is over. With temporary tables, you can create, read, update and
delete records like permanent tables. Know that there are two types of temporary tables:
local and global temporary tables.

Local temporary tables are only visible to the user who created them, and they are
deleted the moment the user disconnects from the instance of the SQL server.

On the contrary, global temporary tables are visible to all users, and they are deleted
only when all the users who reference the tables get disconnected.

10. What do you mean by Primary Key and Foreign Key in SQL?
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Primary Key: A primary is a field or combination of many fields that help identify records
in a table. Note that there can be only one primary key for a table. The table that has the
primary key is known as the parent table.

Foreign Key: A foreign key is the field or combination of fields of a table that links the
primary key of another table. A foreign key is used to create a connection between two
tables. Unlike a primary key, a table can have one or many foreign keys. The table that
has a foreign key is known as the child table.

For example, customer ID (1) is the primary key of the Customers table, and customer
ID (2) in the orders table is identified as the foreign key to the customer's table.

11. What are Superkey and candidate key?

A super key may be a single or a combination of keys that help to identify a record in a
table. Know that Super keys can have one or more attributes, even though all the
attributes are not necessary to identify the records.

A candidate key is the subset of Superkey, which can have one or more than one
attributes to identify records in a table. Unlike Superkey, all the attributes of the
candidate key must be helpful to identify the records.

Note that all the candidate keys can be Super keys, but all the super keys cannot be
candidate keys.

12. What are composite keys?

A composite key is the combination of two or more columns in a table used to identify a
row in a table. Know that a combination of columns is essential in creating composite
keys because a single column in a composite key cannot identify a row in a table. We
can say that the composite key is the primary key with a few more attributes or columns.
Also, a composite key can be a combination of candidate keys.

13. What is JOIN operation in SQL, and mention their types?

JOIN is the logical operation used to retrieve data from two or more tables. It can be
applied only when there is a logical relationship between two tables. Moreover, the JOIN
operator uses the data of one table to retrieve data from another table.

Following are the different types of logical operations:

 INNER JOIN
 LEFT (OUTER) JOIN
 RIGHT (OUTER) JOIN
 FULL (OUTER) JOIN
 CROSS JOIN

14. What do you mean by Self Join?

In self-join operation, a table is joined with itself to retrieve the desired data. Every join
operation needs two tables as a basic rule. Therefore, in self-join, a table is joined with
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an instance of the same table. By doing this, values of the two table columns are
compared with each other, and the desired data is retrieved as the result set.

15. What do you mean by Cross Join?

Cross Join is basically the Cartesian product type in which each row in a table is paired
with all the rows of another table. So, the result set will be the paired combinations of the
rows of two tables. Generally, cross join is not preferred by developers as it increases
complexity in programs when there are many rows in tables. But, it can be used in
queries if you identify normal join operation won’t be effective for your query.

16. What are the SQL constraints?

SQL constraints specify conditions for a column or table to manage the data stored in
tables effectively.

The following are the commonly used SQL constraints.

 NOT NULL - This condition ensures columns won’t accept a NULL value.
 UNIQUE - It ensures that all the values in a column must be unique.
 CHECK - It ensures that all the column fields obey a specific condition.
 DEFAULT - It provides a default value for the fields of a column unless no value
is specified for the fields
 CREATE INDEX - It ensures creating an index for tables so that retrieving data
from the tables becomes easier
 PRIMARY KEY - It must identify every row of a table
 FOREIGN KEY - It must link tables based on common attributes

17. What are local and global variables?

Local variables are declared inside a function so that only that function can call them.
They only exist until the execution of that specific function. Generally, local variables are
stored in stack memory and cleaned up automatically.

Global variables are declared outside of a function. They are available until the
execution of the entire program. Unlike local variables, global variables are stored in
fixed memory and not cleaned up automatically.

18. What is an index in SQL, and mention its types?

An index is used to retrieve data from a database quickly. Generally, indexes have keys
taken from the columns of tables and views. We can say, SQL indexes are similar to the
indexes in books that help to identify pages in the books quickly.

There are two types of indexes:

 Clustered indexes
 Non-clustered indexes

19. Mention the different types of SQL commands or SQL subsets?

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There are five types of SQL commands offered in SQL. They are given as follows;

 DDL - Data Definition Languages

 DML - Data Manipulation Languages
 DCL - Data Control Language
 TCL - Transaction Control Language
 DQL - Data Query Language

20. What are the Various Commands used in SQL Subsets?

CREATE, DROP, ALTER, TRUNCATE, ADD COLUMN, and DROP

DDL
COLUMN

DML INSERT, DELETE, and UPDATE

DCL GRANT and REVOKE

TCL COMMIT, ROLLBACK, SAVEPOINT, and SET TRANSACTION

DQL SELECT

21. Can you brief me on a few DDL Commands?

ALTER This command allows changing the structure of a table

It allows the creation of database objects such as tables, views, and

CREATE
indexes.

DROP This command allows removing database objects from a database

TRUNCATE This command helps to delete all the rows of a table permanently.

22. Can you brief the DML Commands?

INSERT This command allows inserting a data into a table of a database

DELETE This command allows deleting specific rows from a table

UPDATE This command allows modifying a data in a table

23. Can you brief me on a few DCL Commands?

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This command can be used to share a database with other users. All the
GRANT
database objects can be granted access with certain rights to users.

This command can be applied if you want to restrict the access of

REVOKE
database objects by other users.

24. Can you brief me about TCL commands?

This command allows for saving the transactions made in a

COMMIT
database.

This command helps undo the transactions made in a database with

ROLLBACK
the condition that the transactions shouldn't be saved yet.

This command helps to roll the transactions up to a certain point but

SAVEPOINT
not the entire transaction.

25. What are Stored Procedures?

It is a function that consists of a group of statements that can be stored and executed
whenever it is required. Know that stored procedures are compiled only once. They are
stored as ‘Named Object’ in the SQL server database. Stored procedures can be called
at any time during program execution. Moreover, a stored procedure can be called
another stored procedure.

26. What are the SQL database functions?

SQL offers the flexibility to developers to use built-in functions as well as user-defined
functions.

The functions are categorized as follows:

 Aggregate functions: They process a group of values and return a single value.
They can combine with GROUP BY, OVER, HAVING clauses and return values.
They are deterministic functions.
 Analytic functions: They are similar to aggregate functions but return multiple
rows as result set after processing a group of values. They help calculate moving
averages, running totals, Top-N results, percentages, etc.
 Ranking functions: They return ranking values for rows in a table based on the
given conditions. Here, the results are non-deterministic.
 Rowset functions: They return an object used as the table reference.
 Scalar functions: They operate on a single value and return a single value.

27. Mention the different types of operators used in SQL?

There are six types of operators used in SQL. They are given as follows:
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Arithmetic Addition, Subtraction, Multiplication, Division, and

Operators Remainder/Modulus

Bitwise Operators Bitwise AND, Bitwise OR, Bitwise XOR, etc.

Comparison Equal to, Not equal to, Greater than, Not greater than, Less
Operators than, Not less than, Not equal to, etc.

Compound Add equals, Multiply equals, Subtract equals, Divide equals,

Operators and Modulo equals

ALL, ANY/SOME, AND, BETWEEN, NOT, EXISTS, OR, IN,

Logical Operators
LIKE, and ISNULL

String Operators String concatenation, wildcard, character matches, etc.

28. What are the Set Operators?

There are four types of set operators available in SQL. They are given as follows:

This operator allows combining result sets of two or more SELECT

Union
statements.

Union This operator allows combining result sets of two or more SELECT
All statements along with duplicates.

This operator returns the common records of the result sets of two or
Intersect
more SELECT statements.

This operator returns the exclusive records of the first table when two
Minus
tables undergo this operation.

29. What do you mean by buffer pool and mention its benefits?

A buffer pool in SQL is also known as a buffer cache. All the resources can store their
cached data pages in a buffer pool. The size of the buffer pool can be defined during the
configuration of an instance of SQL Server. The number of pages that can be stored in a
buffer pool depends on its size.

The following are the benefits of a buffer pool:

 Increase in I/O performance

 Reduction in I/O latency
 Increase in transaction throughput
 Increase in reading performance

30. What are Tuple and tuple functions?

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A tuple is a single row in a table that represents a single record of a relation. A tuple
contains all the data that belongs to a record. At the same time, tuple functions allow
retrieving tuples from a database table. They are extensively used in analysis services
that have multidimensional structures.

For example, the highlighted row in the below table shows all the data belonging to a
customer, which is nothing but a tuple.

Customer Name Phone Number Email Address Postal Address

Naren 123 -456 -789 [email protected] PO No:123, New Delhi

Raman 234 -567 -891 [email protected] PO No:143, Mumbai

Krishna 345 -678 -912 [email protected] PO No:443, Hyderabad

31. What do you mean by dependency and mention the different

dependencies?

Dependency is the relation between the attributes of a table. The following are the
different types of dependencies in SQL.

 Functional dependency
 Fully-functional dependency
 Multivalued dependency
 Transitive dependency
 Partial dependency

32. What do you mean by Data Integrity?

Data integrity ensures the accuracy and consistency of data stored in a database. Data
integrity, in a way, represents the data quality. So, the data characteristics defined for a
column should be satisfied while storing data in the columns. For instance, if a column in
a table is supposed to store numeric values, then it should not accept Alphabetic values;
otherwise, you can mean that data integrity is lost in the table.

33. What is Database Cardinality?

Database Cardinality denotes the uniqueness of values in the tables. It supports

optimizing query plans and hence improves query performance. There are three types of
database cardinalities in SQL, as given below:

 Higher Cardinality
 Normal Cardinality
 Lower Cardinality

34. What are database Normalisation and various forms of

Normalisation?
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It is the process that reduces data redundancy and improves data integrity by
restructuring the relational database.

The following are the different forms of normalization:

 First normal form – 1NF

 Second normal form – 2 NF
 Third normal form – 3 NF
 Boyce Codd Normal Form/Fourth Normal form – BCNF/4NF

35. What is Cursor, and how to use it?

In general, the result set of a SQL statement is a set of rows. If we need to manipulate
the result set, we can act on a single row of the result set at a time. Cursors are the
extensions to the result set and help point a row in the result set. Here, the pointed row
is known as the current row.

Cursors can be used in the following ways:

 Positions a row in a result set

 Supports retrieving the current row from the result set
 Supports data modifications in the current row
 Allowing SQL statements in stored procedures, scripts, and triggers to access
the result set

36. Mention the different types of Cursors?

 Forward Only: It is known as the firehose cursor that can make only a forward
movement. The modification made by the current user and other users is visible
while using this cursor. As it is the forward-moving cursor, it fetches rows of the
result set from the start to end serially.
 Static: This cursor can move forward and backward on the result set. Here, only
the same result set is visible throughout the lifetime of the cursor. In other words,
once the cursor is open, it doesn’t show any changes made in the database that
is the source for the result set.
 Keyset: This cursor is managed by a set of identifiers known as keys or keysets.
Here, the keysets are built by the columns that derive the rows of a result set.
When we use this cursor, we can’t view the records created by other users.
Similarly, if any user deletes a record, we can’t access that record too.
 Dynamic: Unlike static cursors, once the cursor is open, all the modifications
performed in the database are reflected in the result set. The UPDATE, INSERT
and DELETE operations made by other users can be viewed while scrolling the
cursor.

37. What are Entity and Relationship?

Entities are real-world objects that are individualistic and independent. Rows of a table
represent the members of the entity, and columns represent the attributes of the entity.
For instance, a ‘list of employees of a company is an entity where employee name, ID,
address, etc., are the attributes of the entity.
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A relationship indicates how entities in a database are related to each other. Simply put,
how a row in a table is related to row(s) of another table in a database. The relationship
is made using the primary key and the foreign key primarily.

There are three types of relationships in DBMS, as mentioned below:

 One-to-one relationship
 One-to-many relationship
 Many-to-many relationship

38. What is a Trigger, and mention its various types?

Triggers are nothing but they are special stored procedures. When there is an event in
the SQL server, triggers will be fired automatically.

There are three types of triggers – LOGON, DDL, and DML.

LOGON triggers: They get fired when a user starts a Logon event

DDL triggers: They get fired when there is a DDL event

DML Triggers: They get fired when there is a modification in data due to DML

39. What is Schema in SQL, and mention its advantages?

The schema represents the logical structures of data. Using schemas, the database
objects can be grouped logically in a database. Schema is useful for segregating
database objects based on different applications, controlling access permissions, and
managing a database's security aspects. Simply out, Schemas ensure database security
and consistency.

Advantages:

 Schemas can be easily transferred

 You can transfer database objects between schemas
 It protects database objects and achieves effective access control

40. What are the types of UDFs?

There are three types of UDFs. They are defined as follows:

 User-defined scalar functions

 Table-valued functions
 System functions

41. What is the difference between char and varchar data types?

Char data type is a fixed-length data type in which the length of the character cannot be
changed during execution. It supports storing normal and alphanumeric characters.
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On the other hand, varchar is the variable-length data type in which the length of the
character can be changed during execution. That's why, it is known as a dynamic data
type.

42. Mention the Aggregate Functions used in SQL?

The following aggregate functions are used in SQL.

 COUNT
 SUM
 AVG
 MAX
 MIN

43. What are Case Manipulation Functions used in SQL?

The following are the case manipulation functions used in SQL.

 LOWER
 UPPER
 INITCAP

44. What are Character Manipulation Functions used in SQL?

The following are the character manipulation functions used in SQL.

 CONCAT
 SUBSTR
 LENGTH
 INSTR
 LPAD
 RPAD
 TRIM
 REPLACE

45. How would you differentiate single-row functions from multiple-row

functions?

Single row functions can act on a single row of a table at a time. They return only one
result after executing a row. Length and case conversions are known to be single-row
functions.

Multiple row functions can act on multiple rows of a table at a time. They are also called
group functions and return a single output after executing multiple rows.

Experienced:

46. What is the difference between SQL and NoSQL?

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SQL No SQL

Works on relational databases Works on non-relational databases

Stores data in tables based on

No specific method is followed for data storage,
schemas so that data are
so it offers flexibility in storing data.
organized and structured

Easy to execute complex queries Difficult to execute complex queries

Scaling is performed vertically

Scaling is performed horizontally adding more
increasing the processing power
servers and nodes
of servers

Follows CAP theory – according to this, any two

SQL satisfies ACID Properties
of the following need to be satisfied –
such as atomicity, consistency,
Consistency, Availability, and Partition
isolation, and durability.
tolerance.

47. What is the difference between SQL and MySQL?

SQL MySQL

It is the RDMS – Relational Database

It is the programming language
Management System

It is used for querying relational It is used to store, modify and delete data in
database systems a database in an organized way.

It is an open-source platform managed by

It is a licensed product of Microsoft.
Oracle corporation

It provides adequate protection to As it is an open-source platform, security

SQL servers against intruders cannot be reliable

Support connectors such as the Workbench

It doesn’t support any connectors
tool to build databases

48. What is the difference between Index and View?

Generally, an index is created in a separate table. They are the pointers that indicate the
address of data in a database table. An index helps speed up querying and the data
retrieval process in a database.
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On the other hand, a view is a virtual table created from the rows and columns of one or
more tables. The main thing about a view is that the rows and columns are grouped
logically. With the support of views, you can restrict access to the entire data in a
database.

49. What is the use of Views, and mention its types in SQL?

Views are the virtual database tables created by selecting rows and columns from one or
more tables in a database. They support developers in multiple ways, such as
simplifying complex queries, restricting access to queries, and summarising data from
many tables.

There are two types of views, as mentioned below:

 System-defined views: They can be used for specific purposes and perform
specific actions only. It provides all the information and properties of databases
and tables.
 User-defined views: They are created as per the requirements of users. They
are routines that accept parameters, perform complex functions, and return a
value.

50. Compare: LONG and LOB Data types

LONG Datatype LOB Datatype

helps store large scale semi-structured Known as Large Objects. It is used to store
and unstructured data large size data

Stores up to 2GB of data Can store up to 4GB of data

Supports manipulating and accessing data

Difficult to maintain
easily

A table can have only one LONG A table can have multiple LOB columns
column where LOB type data is stored

Subqueries cannot select LONG data

Subqueries can select LOB datatypes
types

Access data only sequentially Access data randomly

51. What is the difference between Zero and NULL values in SQL?

When a field in a column doesn’t have any value, it is said to be having a NULL value.
Simply put, NULL is the blank field in a table. It can be considered as an unassigned,
unknown, or unavailable value. On the contrary, zero is a number, and it is an available,
assigned, and known value.
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52. What is the difference between INNER JOIN and OUTER JOIN?

INNER JOIN OUTER JOIN

It is the intersection of two tables It is the union of two tables

Only retrieves rows that are Retrieves the rows common to two tables and
common to two tables all the values of one table

53. What are Database Testing and its benefits?

Database testing is also known as back-end testing. It consists of the SQL queries
executed to validate database operations, data structures, and attributes of a database.
It helps to ensure the data integrity by eliminating duplicate entries of data in a database,
failing which will create many problems while managing the database. Besides, it deals
with testable items hidden and not visible to users.

54. What is Database Black box testing?

Blackbox testing helps to examine the functionality of a database. It is performed by

validating the integration level of a database. The incoming and outgoing data are
verified by various test cases such as the cause-effect graphing technique, equivalence
partitioning, and boundary value analysis. This kind of testing can be performed at the
early stages of development to ensure better performance.

55. What is the use of Defaults in SQL?

In a database, default values are substituted when no value is assigned to a field in a

table column. Basically, each column can be specified with a default value. In this way,
SQL server management studio specifies default values, which can be created only for
the current databases. Note that if the default value exceeds the size of the column field,
it can be truncated.

56. What is SQL Injection, and how to avoid it?

SQL injection is a malicious attack sent targeting an SQL server instance. It is usually
sent through strings of statements and passed into the SQL server for execution. To
avoid SQL injection, all statements must be verified for malicious vulnerabilities before
allowing for execution.

In addition to that, the following methods can be applied to avoid SQL injections. They
are given as follows:

 Using type-safe SQL parameters

 Using parameterized input with stored procedures
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 Filtering inputs
 Reviewing codes
 Wrapping parameters

57. What do you mean by Autonomous Transaction?

An autonomous transaction is an independent transaction initiated by a transaction that

is the main transaction. Autonomous transaction holds the main transaction, performs
SQL operations, and commits or rolls back. After that, it resumes the main transaction.
Note that autonomous transaction doesn’t share locks and resources with the main
transaction.

58. Write the SQL statements that can be used to return even number
records and odd number records?

You can use the following statement to retrieve even number records from a table.

SELECT * from table where id % 2 = 0

You can use the following statement to retrieve odd number records from a table.

SELECT * from table where id % 2 ! = 0

59. What is Alias in SQL?

SQL aliases help to assign temporary names for a table or column. It is used to simplify
table or column names. And aliases can exist only for that query period. It can be
created using the ‘AS’ keyword. Know that creation of an alias is in no way affecting the
column names in the database. It can be applied when more than one table is involved
in a query.

60. What is the difference between OLAP and OLTP?

OLAP is known as Online Analytical Processing. It consists of tools used for data
analysis that will be used for making better decisions. It can work on multiple database
systems' historical data and provide valuable insights. For example, NETFLIX and
SPOTIFY generate insights from past data.

On the other hand, OLTP is known as Online Transaction Processing, and it works on
operational data. OLTP manages ACID properties during transactions. Specifically, it
performs faster than OLAP so that it can be used in online ticket booking, messaging
services, etc.

61. What do you mean by Data Inconsistency?

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Data inconsistency occurs when the same data exists in many tables in different
formats. In other words, the same information about an object or person may be spread
across the database in various places creating duplication. It decreases the reliability of
the data and decreases the query performance significantly. To overcome this
drawback, we can use constraints on the database.

62. What do you mean by Collation in SQL?

Collation allows to sort and compare data with pre-defined rules. These rules help to
store, access and compare data effectively. The collation rules are applied while
executing insert, select, update and delete operations. SQL servers can store objects
that have different collations in a single database. Note that collation offers case-
sensitivity and accent sensitivity for datasets.

63. How to create a table from an existing table?

A copy of a table can be created from an existing table using the combination of
CREATE and SELECT statements. Using these statements, you can select all the
columns or specific columns from an existing table. As a result, the new table will be
replaced with all the values of the existing table. Here, the WHERE clause can select the
specific columns from the table.

The syntax for this type of table creation is given below:

CREATE TABLE NEW_TABLE_NAME1 AS

SELECT [column1,column2,…..columnN]

FROM EXISTING_TABLE_NAME1

[WHERE]

64. How to fetch common records from two tables?

We can fetch common records using INTERSECT commands in SQL. The main thing
about this statement is that it returns only the common records. It means that this
statement helps to eliminate duplication of data.

The syntax for this statement is given as below:

SELECT CustomerID

FROM Sales. customers

INTERSECT

SELECT CustomerID
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FROM Sales. Orders

WHERE Month (Orderdate) = December;

65. What are the common clauses used with SELECT Statements?

The common clauses such as FOR, ORDER BY, GROUP BY, and HAVING are used
with SELECT statements.

 FOR Clause - it specifies the different formats for viewing result sets such as
browser mode cursor, XML, and JSON file.
 ORDER BY Clause - It sorts the data returned by a query in a specific order. It
helps to determine the order for ranking functions.
 GROUP BY Clause - It groups the result set of the SELECT statement. It returns
one row per group.
 HAVING Clause – It is used with the GROUP BY clause and specifies a search
condition for a group.

66. What is COALESCE and describe any two properties of

COALESCE functions?

COALESCE is an expression that evaluates arguments in a list and only returns the non-
NULL value.

For example, consider the following statement:

SELECT COALESCE (NULL, 14, 15);

This statement will return 14 after the execution since the first value is the NULL in this
argument list.

Properties of COALESCE function:

 The datatype must be the same

 It functions as a syntactic shortcut for the case expression

67. What is the use of the MERGE statement?

MERGE allows combining the INSERT, DELETE and UPDATE functions altogether.
This statement can be applied when two statements have complex matching
characteristics. Though the MERGE statement seems to be complex, it provides much
more advantages to developers when they get familiar with this statement. It reduces I/O
operations significantly and allows to read data only from the source.

68. What is the use of CLAUSE in SQL?

Clauses are nothing but they are the built-in functions of SQL. They help to retrieve data
very quickly and efficiently. Clauses are much-needed for developers when there is a
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large volume of data in a database. The result set of clauses would be a pattern, group,
or an ordered format.

The following are the various clauses used in SQL:

 WHERE Clause
 OR Clause
 And Clause
 Like Clause
 Limit Clause
 Order By
 Group By

69. How to change a table name in SQL?

If you need to rename a table name in SQL, you can use the RENAME OBJECT
statement to achieve the same.

You have to execute the following steps to change a table name using SQL.

 First, connect to a database engine in Object Explorer

 Select a new query on the standard bar
 Then, write the query and execute it.

The following example will show the use of rename query.

Advanced SQL Interview Questions & Answers

70. What are the differences between SQL and PL/SQL?

SQL PL/SQL

It is a Procedural Language where SQL

It is a Structured Query Language
statements are processed effectively

Only a single operation can be performed A Group of operations as a single block

at a time can be performed at a time

SQL executes the queries such as It is used to write program blocks,

creating tables, deleting tables, and functions, procedures, triggers,
inserting into tables. packages, and cursors.

Mainly, it is used to retrieve data from Used for creating web applications and
databases and modify tables. server pages

Processing speed is low It has the excellent processing speed

71. What are the advantages of PL/SQL functions?

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 It has tight interaction with SQL.

 It has high performance and productivity.
 It has high portability and scalability.
 It is highly flexible and secure.
 Supports developing web applications and server pages

72. Differentiate: CHAR and VARCHAR data types in SQL?

CHAR VARCHAR

It is a fixed-length character string data It is a variable-length character string

type data type.

The data type can be a single byte or It can accept character strings up to 255
multiple-byte bytes

This data type can be used when the This data type is used when the
character length is known character length is not clear

It uses static memory location It uses dynamic memory location

This is used when the character length of This is used when the character length
the data is the same. of the data is variable.

73. How can you avoid Duplicate Keys in SQL?

We can eliminate duplicate keys in SQL by using the following methods:

 Using INSERT INTO SELECT

 Using WHERE NOT IN
 Using WHERE NOT EXISTS
 Using IF NOT EXISTS
 Using COUNT(*)=0

74. Brief the factors that affect the functionalities of databases?

The following five factors affect the functionalities of databases.

 Workload
 Throughput
 Resources
 Optimization
 Contention

75. List out the factors that affect the query performance?

The following are the factors that affect the performance of queries.

 Number of nodes, processors, or slices

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 Node types
 Data distribution
 Data sort order
 Dataset size
 Concurrent operations
 Query structure
 Code compilation

76. Differentiate: UNION and INTERSECT statements?

UNION: It is the operator that returns a single result set for two separate queries. And
this operator functions based on specific conditions.

Syntax: query 1 UNION query2

INTERSECT: It is the operator that returns only the distinct rows from two separate
queries.

Syntax: query 1 INTERSECT query2

77. What is the difference between DROP and TRUNCATE

statements?

DROP TRUNCATE

It removes a whole database It removes a table or data or index

All the constraints will be removed after Constraints don’t get affected because
the execution of the DROP function. of the execution of this statement

The structure of the data also will be The structure of the data won’t get
removed affected

It is a slow process It is faster than the DROP statement

78. What is the use of the SELECT DISTINCT statement?

This statement is used to select distinct values from a table. The table might consist of
many duplicate records, whereas this statement helps to return only the distinct values.

The syntax for the statement is given as follows;

SELECT DISTINCT column1, column2,

FROM table_name1;

79. How can you differentiate the RANK and DENSE_RANK functions?
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Both RANK and DENSE_RANK are used as the ranking functions, which perform
ranking of data based on specific conditions. When the RANK statement is executed, it
returns a ranking of values of a table based on specific conditions. At the same time, the
result set up skip positions in the ranking if there are the same values. Simply put, there
will be a discontinuity in the numbering of ranking. On the other hand, when the
RANK_DENSE function is executed, it doesn’t skip any position in the ranking of values
even though there are the same values present in the table. It returns continuous
numbering of ranking.

The following example will explain the use of the RANK and DENSE_RANK functions.

80. What is the difference between IN and BETWEEN operators?

Both IN and BETWEEN operators are used to return records for multiple values from a
table. The IN operator is used to return records from a table for the multiple values
specified in the statement. On the other side, BETWEEN operator is used to return
records within a range of values specified in the statement.

Syntax for the IN statement is given as:

SELECT * FROM table_name1

WHERE column_name1 IN (value 1,value2)

The syntax for the BETWEEN statement is given as:

SELECT * FROM table_name1

WHERE column_name1 BETWEEN ‘value 1’ AND ‘value2’

81. Compare: STUFF and REPLACE statements?

Both STUFF and REPLACE statements are used to replace characters in a string. The
STUFF statement inserts the specific characters in a string replacing existing characters.
In comparison, the REPLACE statement replaces existing characters with specific
characters throughout the string.

For example, consider the following examples:

For the STUFF statement;

SELECT STUFF (‘raman’,2,3,’aja’)

Output: rajan

For the REPLACE statement;

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SELECT REPLACE (‘ramanathan’,’an’,’ar’)

Output: ramarathar

82. What do you mean by COMMIT in SQL?

COMMIT statement allows saving the changes made in a transaction permanently. Once
a transaction is committed, the previous values cannot be retrieved.

The following syntax is used for this operation:

SELECT *

FROM Staff

WHERE incentive = 1000;

sql>COMMIT;

83. What is the use of the GRANT Statement?

This statement grants permissions for users to perform operations such as SELECT,
UPDATE, INSERT, DELETE, or any other operations on tables and views.

For example, if you would like to provide access to a user for updating tables, then the
following statement must be used. In addition, the user too can grant permissions to
other users.

GRANT UPDATE ON table_name TO user_name WITH GRANT OPTION

84. What is the difference between White Box Testing and Black Box
Testing?

Black Box Testing White Box Testing

The internal structure of the program is Testers know the internal structure of
hidden from testers the program

It is performed by software
It is performed by software testers
developers

Testing is known as outer or external Testing is known as inner or internal

software testing software testing
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Programming knowledge is not required for Programming knowledge is a must

testers for testers

Functional testing, non-functional testing, Path testing, loop testing, and

and regression testing are the types of black- condition testing are types of white
box testing. box testing.

85. What do you mean by ETL in SQL?

ETL in SQL represents Extract, Transform and Load.

Extracting – It is about extracting data from the source, which can be a data
warehouse, CRMs, databases, etc.

Transforming – It includes many processes such as cleansing, standardization,

deduplication, verification, and sorting.

Loading – It is the process of loading the transformed data into the new destination.
There are two types of loading data: full loading and incremental loading.

86. What do you mean by NESTED triggers?

If a trigger fires another trigger while being executed, it is known as a NESTED trigger.
Nested triggers can be fired while executing DDL and DML operations such as INSERT,
DROP and UPDATE. Nested triggers help to back up the rows affected by the previous
trigger. There are two types of nested triggers: AFTER triggers and INSTEAD OF
triggers.

87. How to insert multiple rows in a database table in SQL?

We can use the INSERT INTO statement to insert multiple rows in a database table in
SQL.

The following syntax can be used for this case:

INSERT INTO table_name VALUES (value1, value), (value3, value4)…;

The inserted data can be selected using the following syntax:

SELECT * FROM table_name;

88. What do you mean by live-lock in SQL?

When two processes repeat the same type of interaction continually without making any
progress in the query processing, it leads to a live-lock situation in the SQL server.
There is no waiting state in live-lock, but the processes are happening concurrently,
forming a closed loop.
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For example, let us assume process A holds a resource D1 and requests resource D2.
At the same time, assume that process B holds a resource D2 and requests resource
D1. This situation won’t progress any further until any of the processes should either
drop holding a resource or drop requesting a resource.

89. What do you mean by Equi-JOIN and non-Equi-JOIN?

Equi-join creates a join operation to match the values of the relative tables. The syntax
for this operation can be given as follows:

SELECT column_list

FROM table1, table2,…..

WHERE table1.column_name = table.2column_name;

On the other side, Non-Equi join performs join operations except equal. This operator
works with <,>,>=, <= with conditions.

SELECT *

FROM table_name1,table_name2

WHERE table_name1.column[>|<|>=|<=] table_name2.column;

90. What are the different types of SQL sandboxes?

There are three types of SQL sandboxes. They are given as follows:

 Safe access sandbox

 Unsafe access sandbox
 External access sandbox

91. What do you mean by lock escalation?

It is the process of converting row and page locks into table locks. Know that Reduction
of lock escalation would increase the server performance. To improve performance, we
need to keep transactions short and reduce lock footprints in queries as low as possible.
Besides, we can disable lock escalation at the table and instance levels, but it is not
recommended.

92. How can you update a table using SQL?

The UPDATE statement allows you to update a database table in SQL. After the
execution, one or more columns in a table will be replaced by new values.

The syntax for the UPDATE statement is given as follows:

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UPDATE table_name

SET

Column1 = new_value1,

Column2 = new_value2,

..…..

WHERE

Condition;

This statement requires a table name, new values, and conditions to select the rows.
Here, the WHERE statement is not mandatory. Suppose the WHERE clause is used, all
the rows in a table will be updated by the new values.

93. How to create a Stored Procedure using T-SQL?

 Connect to the instance of a database engine in ‘object explorer’

 Click ‘new query’ from the ‘files menu’
 Copy and paste the following sample codes in the query window

USE AdventureWorks2012;

GO

CREATE PROCEDURE HR.GetEmployeesTest2

@LastName nvarchar(25),

@FirstName nvarchar(25)

AS

SET NOCOUNT ON

SELECT FirstName, LastName, Division

FROM HR.vEmployeeDivisionHistory

WHERE FirstName = @FirstName AND LastName = @LastName

AND EndDate IS NULL;

GO

 Now, execute the codes

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You can use the following statement to run the newly created stored procedure.

EXECUTE HR.GetEmployeesTest2 N'Ackerman', N'Pilar';

94. What do you mean by DELETE CASCADE constraint?

When a foreign key is created under this option, and if a referenced row in the parent
table is deleted, the referencing row(s) in a child table also gets deleted.

On similar tracks, when a referenced row is updated in a parent table, the referencing
row(s) in a child table is also updated.

95. Explain the different types of indexes in SQL?

The following are the different types of indexes in SQL.

 Single-column indexes
 Unique indexes
 Composite indexes
 Implicit indexes

96. What do you mean by auto-increment?

It is a unique number that will be generated when a new record is inserted into a table.
Mainly, it acts as the primary key for a table.

The following syntax is used for this purpose:

IDENTITY (starting_value, increment_value)

97. What do you mean by Pattern Matching?

We can use the LIKE command in SQL to identify patterns in a database using
character strings. Generally, a pattern may be identified using wildcard characters or
regular characters. So, pattern matching can be performed using both wildcard
characters and string comparison characters as well. However, pattern matching through
wildcard characters is more flexible than using string comparison characters.

98. What is the difference between blocking and deadlocking?

Blocking is a phenomenon that occurs when a process locks a resource ‘A’, and the
same resource is requested by another process ‘B’. Now, process ‘B’ can access the
resource ‘A’ only when process ‘A’ releases the lock. The process ‘B’ has to wait until
the process ‘A’ releases the lock. The SQL server doesn't interfere and stops any
process in this scenario.

On the contrary, deadlocking is the phenomenon that occurs when a resource 'A' is
locked by a process 'A' and the same resource is requested by another process 'B'.
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Similarly, a resource 'B' is locked by process 'B' and requested by process A. This
scenario causes a deadlock situation, and it is a never-ending process. So, the SQL
server interferes and voluntarily stops any one of the processes to remove the deadlock.

99. What is the difference between COALESCE ( ) and ISNULL ( )?

COALESCE function returns the first value that is non-NULL in the expression, whereas
ISNULL is used to replace the non-NULL values in the expression.

Syntax for COALESCE function is given as:

SELECT column(s),COALESCE (exp_1,…..,exp_n)

FROM table_name;

Syntax for ISNULL is given as:

SELECT column(s),ISNULL(column_name,value_to_replace)

FROM table_name;

100. What is the difference between NVL and the NVL (2) functions in
SQL?

Both the functions are used to find whether the first argument in the expression is NULL.
The NVL function in the SQL query returns the second argument if the first argument is
NULL. Otherwise, it returns the first argument.

The NVL2 function in SQL query returns the third argument if the first argument is NULL.
Otherwise, the second argument is returned.