Databricks-Certified-Data-Engineer-Associate Databricks Certified Data Engineer Associate Exam Question and Answers

The Databricks web application is the user interface that allows you to create and manage workspaces, clusters, notebooks, jobs, and other resources. It is hosted completely in the control plane of the classic Databricks architecture, which includes the backend services that Databricks manages in your Databricks account. The other options are part of the compute plane, which is where your data is processed by compute resources such as clusters. The compute plane is in your own cloud account and network. References: Databricks architecture overview, Security and Trust Center QUESTION NO: 4

Which of the following benefits of using the Databricks Lakehouse Platform is provided by Delta Lake?

A. The ability to manipulate the same data using a variety of languages

B. The ability to collaborate in real time on a single notebook

C. The ability to set up alerts for query failures

D. The ability to support batch and streaming workloads

E. The ability to distribute complex data operations

Answer: D

Delta Lake is the optimized storage layer that provides the foundation for storing data and tables in the Databricks lakehouse. Delta Lake is fully compatible with Apache Spark APIs, and was developed for tight integration with Structured Streaming, allowing you to easily use a single copy of data for both batch and streaming operations and providing incremental processing at scale1. Delta Lake supports upserts using the merge operation, which enables you to efficiently update existing data or insert new data into your Delta tables2. Delta Lake also provides time travel capabilities, which allow you to query previous versions of your data or roll back to a specific point in time3. References: 1: What is Delta Lake? | Databricks on AWS 2: Upsert into a table using merge | Databricks on AWS 3: [Query an older snapshot of a table (time travel) | Databricks on AWS]

Learn more

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A data engineer can create a multi-task job in Databricks that consists of multiple tasks that run in a specific order. Each task can have one or more dependencies, which are other tasks that must run before the current task. The Depends On field of a new Databricks Job Task allows the data engineer to specify the dependencies of the task. The data engineer should select a task in the Depends On field when they want the new task to run only after the selected task has successfully completed. This can help the data engineer to create a logical sequence of tasks that depend on each other’s outputs or results. For example, a data engineer can create a multi-task job that consists of the following tasks:

• Task A: Ingest data from a source using Auto Loader
• Task B: Transform the data using Spark SQL
• Task C: Write the data to a Delta Lake table
• Task D: Analyze the data using Spark ML
• Task E: Visualize the data using Databricks SQL

In this case, the data engineer can set the dependencies of each task as follows:

• Task A: No dependencies
• Task B: Depends on Task A
• Task C: Depends on Task B
• Task D: Depends on Task C
• Task E: Depends on Task D

This way, the data engineer can ensure that each task runs only after the previous task has successfully completed, and the data flows smoothly from ingestion to visualization.

The other options are incorrect because they do not describe valid scenarios for selecting a task in the Depends On field. The Depends On field does not affect the following aspects of a task:

• Whether the task needs to be replaced by another task
• Whether the task needs to fail before another task begins
• Whether the task has the same dependency libraries as another task
• Whether the task needs to use as little compute resources as possible References: Create a multi-task job, Run tasks conditionally in a Databricks job, Databricks Jobs.

In Production mode, the pipeline runs continuously and updates the output tables whenever new data is available in the input sources. The compute resources are allocated on demand and released when the pipeline is stopped. This mode is suitable for production workloads that require high availability and reliability. References: Configure pipeline settings for Delta Live Tables, Tutorial: Run your first Delta Live Tables pipeline, Building Reliable Data Pipelines Using DataBricks’ Delta Live Tables

 A serverless SQL endpoint is a compute resource that is automatically managed by Databricks and scales up or down based on the workload. A serverless SQL endpoint can be used to run queries and dashboards without requiring manual configuration or management. A serverless SQL endpoint is only active when it is needed and shuts down automatically when idle, minimizing the total running time and cost. A serverless SQL endpoint can be created and assigned to a dashboard using the Databricks SQL UI or the SQL Analytics API. References:

• Create a serverless SQL endpoint
• Assign a SQL endpoint to a dashboard
• SQL Analytics API

 The spark.sql operation allows the data engineering team to run a SQL query and return the result as a PySpark DataFrame. This way, the data engineering team can use the same query that the data analyst has developed and operate with the results in PySpark. For example, the data engineering team can use spark.sql(“SELECT * FROM sales”) to get a DataFrame of all the records from the sales Delta table, and then apply various tests or transformations using PySpark APIs. The other options are either not valid operations (A, D), not suitable for running a SQL query (B, E), or not returning a DataFrame (A). References: Databricks Documentation - Run SQL queries, Databricks Documentation - Spark SQL and DataFrames.

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.

A Gold table is a table that contains highly refined and aggregated data that powers analytics, machine learning, and production applications. It represents data that has been transformed into knowledge, rather than just information. A Gold table is typically the final output of a medallion lakehouse architecture, where data flows from Bronze to Silver to Gold tables, with each layer improving the structure and quality of data. A job that queries aggregated data designed to feed into a dashboard is an example of a data workload that will utilize a Gold table as its source, as it requires data that is ready for consumption and analysis. The other options are either data workloads that will use a Bronze or Silver table as their source, or data workloads that will produce a Gold table as their output. References: Databricks Documentation - What is the medallion lakehouse architecture?, Databricks Documentation - What is a Medallion Architecture?, K21Academy - Delta Lake Architecture & Azure Databricks Workspace.

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 command DESCRIBE DATABASE customer360; will return the location of the database customer360, along with its comment and properties. This command is an alias for DESCRIBE SCHEMA customer360;, which can also be used to get the same information. The other commands will either drop the database, alter its properties, or use it as the current database, but will not return its location12. References:

• DESCRIBE DATABASE | Databricks on AWS
• DESCRIBE DATABASE - Azure Databricks - Databricks SQL

 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

The array functions from Spark SQL are a subset of the collection functions that operate on array columns1. They provide an ability to work with complex, nested data ingested from JSON files or other sources2. For example, the explode function can be used to transform an array column into multiple rows, one for each element in the array3. The array_contains function can be used to check if a value is present in an array column4. The array_join function can be used to concatenate all elements of an array column with a delimiter. These functions can be useful for processing JSON data that may have nested arrays or objects. References: 1: Spark SQL, Built-in Functions - Apache Spark 2: Spark SQL Array Functions Complete List - Spark By Examples 3: Spark SQL Array Functions - Syntax and Examples - DWgeek.com 4: Spark SQL, Built-in Functions - Apache Spark : Spark SQL, Built-in Functions - Apache Spark : [Working with Nested Data Using Higher Order Functions in SQL on Databricks - The Databricks Blog]

Option A is the correct answer because it shows the result of an INNER JOIN between the two tables. An INNER JOIN returns only the rows that have matching values in both tables based on the join condition. In this case, the join condition is ON a.customer_id = c.customer_id, which means that only the rows that have the same customer ID in both tables will be included in the output. The output will have four columns: customer_id, name, account_id, and overdraft_amt. The output will have four rows, corresponding to the four customers who have accounts in the account table.

References: The use of INNER JOIN can be referenced from Databricks documentation on SQL JOIN or from other sources like W3Schools or GeeksforGeeks.

 To grant full permissions on a table to a user or a group, you can use the GRANT ALL PRIVILEGES ON TABLE statement. This statement will grant all the possible privileges on the table, such as SELECT, CREATE, MODIFY, DROP, ALTER, etc. Option A is the only code block that follows this syntax correctly. Option B is incorrect, as it does not grant all the possible privileges on the table, but only a subset of them. Option C is incorrect, as it only grants the SELECT privilege on the table, which is not enough to fully manage the project. Option D is incorrect, as it grants the USAGE privilege on the table, which is not a valid privilege for tables. Option E is incorrect, as it grants all the privileges on the table team to the user or group sales, which is the opposite of what the question asks. References: Grant privileges on a table using SQL | Databricks on AWS, Grant privileges on a table using SQL - Azure Databricks, SQL Privileges - Databricks

https://www.databricks.com/blog/2021/10/20/introducing-sql-user-defined-functions.html

To grant full privileges on a table such as 'sales' to a group like 'team', the correct SQL command in Databricks is:

GRANT ALL PRIVILEGES ON TABLE sales TO team;

This command assigns all available privileges, including SELECT, INSERT, UPDATE, DELETE, and any other data manipulation or definition actions, to the specified team. This is typically necessary when a team needs full control over a table to manage and manipulate it as part of a project or ongoing maintenance.

References:Databricks documentation on SQL permissions: SQL Permissions in Databricks

 In Databricks, you can use different languages within the same notebook by using magic commands. Magic commands are special commands that start with a percentage sign (%) and allow you to change the behavior of the cell. To use SQL within a cell of a Python notebook, you can add %sql to the first line of the cell. This will tell Databricks to interpret the rest of the cell as SQL code and execute it against the default database. You can also specify a different database by using the USE statement. The result of the SQL query will be displayed as a table or a chart, depending on the output mode. You can also assign the result to a Python variable by using the -o option. For example, %sql -o df SELECT * FROM my_table will run the SQL query and store the result as a pandas DataFrame in the Python variable df. Option A is incorrect, as it is possible to use SQL in a Python notebook using magic commands. Option B is incorrect, as attaching the cell to a SQL endpoint is not necessary and will not change the language of the cell. Option C is incorrect, as simply writing SQL syntax in the cell will result in a syntax error, as the cell will still be interpreted as Python code. Option E is incorrect, as changing the default language of the notebook to SQL will affect all the cells, not just one. References: Use SQL in Notebooks - Knowledge Base - Noteable, [SQL magic commands - Databricks], [Databricks SQL Guide - Databricks]

Delta Lake is an open source project that provides ACID transactions, time travel, and other features on top of Apache Parquet, a columnar file format that is widely used for big data analytics. Delta Lake uses versioned Parquet files to store your data in your cloud storage, along with JSON files as transaction logs and checkpoint files to track the changes and ensure data integrity. Delta Lake is compatible with any Apache Hive compatible file format, such as CSV, JSON, or AVRO, but it primarily stores data as Parquet files for better performance and compression. References: How to Create Delta Lake tables, 5 reasons to choose Delta Lake format (on Databricks), Parquet vs Delta format in Azure Data Lake Gen 2 store, What is Delta Lake? - Azure Databricks, Lakehouse and Delta tables - Microsoft Fabric

Auto Loader in Databricks utilizes Spark Structured Streaming for processing data incrementally. This allows Auto Loader to efficiently ingest streaming or batch data at scale and to recognize new data as it arrives in cloud storage. Spark Structured Streaming provides the underlying engine that supports various incremental data loading capabilities like schema inference and file notification mode, which are crucial for the dynamic nature of data lakes.

References:Databricks documentation on Auto Loader: Auto Loader Overview

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

 A streaming live table or view processes data that has been added only since the last pipeline update. Streaming tables and views are stateful; if the defining query changes, new data will be processed based on the new query and existing data is not recomputed. This is useful when data needs to be processed incrementally, such as when ingesting streaming data sources or performing incremental loads from batch data sources. A live table or view, on the other hand, may be entirely computed when possible to optimize computation resources and time. This is suitable when data needs to be processed in full, such as when performing complex transformations or aggregations that require scanning all the data. References: Difference between LIVE TABLE and STREAMING LIVE TABLE, CREATE STREAMING TABLE, Load data using streaming tables in Databricks SQL.

In Python, the == operator is used to compare the values of two variables, while the = operator is used to assign a value to a variable. Therefore, option A and E are incorrect, as they use the = operator for comparison. Option B and C are also incorrect, as they compare the review_period variable to a string value "True", which is different from the boolean value True. Option D is the correct answer, as it uses the == operator to compare the day_of_week variable to the integer value 1, and the and operator to check if both conditions are true. If both conditions are true, then the final block of the Python program will be executed. References: [Python Operators], [Python If … Else]

dbfs:/user/hive/warehouse Thereby showing "dbfs:/user/hive/warehouse/customer360.db

 The location of the customer360 database depends on the value of the spark.sql.warehouse.dir configuration property, which specifies the default location for managed databases and tables. If the property is not set, the default value is dbfs:/user/hive/warehouse. Therefore, the customer360 database will be located in dbfs:/user/hive/warehouse/customer360.db. However, if the property is set to a different value, such as dbfs:/user/hive/database, then the customer360 database will be located in dbfs:/user/hive/database/customer360.db. Thus, more information is needed to determine the correct response.

Option A is not correct, as dbfs:/user/hive/database/customer360 is not the default location for managed databases and tables, unless the spark.sql.warehouse.dir property is explicitly set to dbfs:/user/hive/database.

Option B is not correct, as dbfs:/user/hive/warehouse is the default location for the root directory of managed databases and tables, not for a specific database. The database name should be appended with .db to the directory path, such as dbfs:/user/hive/warehouse/customer360.db.

Option C is not correct, as dbfs:/user/hive/customer360 is not a valid location for a managed database, as it does not follow the directory structure specified by the spark.sql.warehouse.dir property.

References:

• Databases and Tables
• [Databricks Data Engineer Professional Exam Guide]

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

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.

Option D is the correct answer because it enables the Serverless feature for the SQL endpoint, which allows the endpoint to automatically scale up and down based on the query load. This way, the endpoint can handle more concurrent queries and reduce the time it takes to return results. The Serverless feature also reduces the cold start time of the endpoint, which is the time it takes to start the cluster when a query is submitted to a non-running endpoint. The Serverless feature is available for both AWS and Azure Databricks platforms.

References: Databricks SQL Serverless, Serverless SQL endpoints, New Performance Improvements in Databricks SQL

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