SQL Interview Bank

EASY:

1. What is Database?

ills
A database is an organized collection of data, stored and retrieved digitally from a remote or
local computer system. Databases can be vast and complex, and such databases are
developed using fixed design and modeling approaches.

Sk
2. What is DBMS?

DBMS stands for Database Management System. DBMS is a system software responsible for
the creation, retrieval, updation, and management of the database. It ensures that our data is
consistent, organized, and is easily accessible by serving as an interface between the database
and its end-users or application software.
a
at
3. What is RDBMS? How is it different from DBMS?

RDBMS stands for Relational Database Management System. The key difference here,
D

compared to DBMS, is that RDBMS stores data in the form of a collection of tables, and
relations can be defined between the common fields of these tables. Most modern database
management systems like MySQL, Microsoft SQL Server, Oracle, IBM DB2, and Amazon
Redshift are based on RDBMS.
w

4. What is SQL?
ro

SQL stands for Structured Query Language. It is the standard language for relational database
management systems. It is especially useful in handling organized data comprised of entities
(variables) and relations between different entities of the data.
G

5. What is the difference between SQL and MySQL?

SQL vs MySQL
SQL MySQL

SQL is a standard language which stands for

Structured Query Language based on the MySQL is a database management system.
English language

SQL is the core of the relational database MySQL is an RDMS (Relational Database
which is used for accessing and managing Management System) such as SQL Server,
database Informix etc.

ills
6. What are Tables and Fields?

Sk
A table is an organized collection of data stored in the form of rows and columns. Columns can
be categorized as vertical and rows as horizontal. The columns in a table are called fields while
the rows can be referred to as records.

a
7. What are Constraints in SQL?
at
Constraints are used to specify the rules concerning data in the table. It can be applied for
single or multiple fields in an SQL table during the creation of the table or after creating using
D

the ALTER TABLE command. The constraints are:

NOT NULL - Restricts NULL value from being inserted into a column.
w

CHECK - Verifies that all values in a field satisfy a condition.

DEFAULT - Automatically assigns a default value if no value has been specified for the field.
ro

UNIQUE - Ensures unique values to be inserted into the field.

INDEX - Indexes a field providing faster retrieval of records.

G

PRIMARY KEY - Uniquely identifies each record in a table.

FOREIGN KEY - Ensures referential integrity for a record in another table.

8. What is a Primary Key?

The PRIMARY KEY constraint uniquely identifies each row in a table. It must contain UNIQUE
values and has an implicit NOT NULL constraint.
A table in SQL is strictly restricted to have one and only one primary key, which is comprised of
single or multiple fields (columns).

CREATE TABLE Students ( /* Create table with a single field as primary key */

ID INT NOT NULL

Name VARCHAR(255)

PRIMARY KEY (ID)

ills
);

CREATE TABLE Students ( /* Create table with multiple fields as primary key */

Sk
ID INT NOT NULL

LastName VARCHAR(255)

FirstName VARCHAR(255) NOT NULL,

CONSTRAINT PK_Student
a
PRIMARY KEY (ID, FirstName)
at
);
D

ALTER TABLE Students /* Set a column as primary key */

ADD PRIMARY KEY (ID);

ALTER TABLE Students /* Set multiple columns as primary key */

w

ADD CONSTRAINT PK_Student /*Naming a Primary Key*/

ro

PRIMARY KEY (ID, FirstName);

G

9. What is a UNIQUE constraint?

A UNIQUE constraint ensures that all values in a column are different. This provides uniqueness
for the column(s) and helps identify each row uniquely. Unlike primary key, there can be multiple
unique constraints defined per table. The code syntax for UNIQUE is quite similar to that of
PRIMARY KEY and can be used interchangeably.

CREATE TABLE Students ( /* Create table with a single field as unique */

 ID INT NOT NULL UNIQUE

Name VARCHAR(255)

);

CREATE TABLE Students ( /* Create table with multiple fields as unique */

ID INT NOT NULL

LastName VARCHAR(255)

ills
FirstName VARCHAR(255) NOT NULL

CONSTRAINT PK_Student

UNIQUE (ID, FirstName)

Sk
);

ALTER TABLE Students /* Set a column as unique */

a
ADD UNIQUE (ID);

ALTER TABLE Students /* Set multiple columns as unique */

at
ADD CONSTRAINT PK_Student /* Naming a unique constraint */

UNIQUE (ID, FirstName);

D
w

10. What is a Foreign Key?

A FOREIGN KEY comprises of single or collection of fields in a table that essentially refers to
ro

the PRIMARY KEY in another table. Foreign key constraint ensures referential integrity in the
relation between two tables.

The table with the foreign key constraint is labeled as the child table, and the table containing
G

the candidate key is labeled as the referenced or parent table.

CREATE TABLE Students ( /* Create table with foreign key - Way 1 */

ID INT NOT NULL

Name VARCHAR(255)

LibraryID INT
 PRIMARY KEY (ID)

FOREIGN KEY (Library_ID) REFERENCES Library(LibraryID)

);

CREATE TABLE Students ( /* Create table with foreign key - Way 2 */

ID INT NOT NULL PRIMARY KEY

Name VARCHAR(255)

ills
LibraryID INT FOREIGN KEY (Library_ID) REFERENCES Library(LibraryID)

);

Sk
ALTER TABLE Students /* Add a new foreign key */

ADD FOREIGN KEY (LibraryID)

REFERENCES Library (LibraryID);a

11. What is a Join? List its different types.
at
The SQL Join clause is used to combine records (rows) from two or more tables in a SQL
database based on a related column between the two.
D

There are mainly four different types of JOINs in SQL:

w
ro
G
 ills
Sk
a
(INNER) JOIN: Retrieves records that have matching values in both tables involved in the join.
at
This is the widely used join for queries.

SELECT *
D

FROM Table_A

JOIN Table_B;

SELECT *
w

FROM Table_A
ro

INNER JOIN Table_B;

LEFT (OUTER) JOIN: Retrieves all the records/rows from the left and the matched records/rows
G

from the right table.

SELECT *

FROM Table_A A

LEFT JOIN Table_B B

ON A.col = B.col;
RIGHT (OUTER) JOIN: Retrieves all the records/rows from the right and the matched
records/rows from the left table.

SELECT *

FROM Table_A A

RIGHT JOIN Table_B B

ON A.col = B.col;

ills
FULL (OUTER) JOIN: Retrieves all the records where there is a match in either the left or right
table.

SELECT *

Sk
FROM Table_A A

FULL JOIN Table_B B

ON A.col = B.col;
a
at
12. What is a Self-Join?

A self JOIN is a case of regular join where a table is joined to itself based on some relation
between its own column(s). Self-join uses the INNER JOIN or LEFT JOIN clause and a table
D

alias is used to assign different names to the table within the query.

SELECT A.emp_id AS "Emp_ID",A.emp_name AS "Employee",

w

B.emp_id AS "Sup_ID",B.emp_name AS "Supervisor"

ro

FROM employee A, employee B

WHERE A.emp_sup = B.emp_id;

G

13. What is a Cross-Join?

 ills
Cross join can be defined as a cartesian product of the two tables included in the join. The table
after join contains the same number of rows as in the cross-product of the number of rows in the

Sk
two tables. If a WHERE clause is used in cross join then the query will work like an INNER
JOIN.

SELECT stu.name, sub.subject a

FROM students AS stu
at
CROSS JOIN subjects AS sub;
D

14: How do you create a new table in SQL?

A: You can create a new table in SQL using the CREATE TABLE statement. For example:
w

CREATE TABLE Employees (

ID INT PRIMARY KEY,

ro

Name VARCHAR(255),

Salary DECIMAL(10, 2)
G

);

15: How would you insert a new record into the "Customers" table with values for Name, Email,
and Phone?

A: You can use the INSERT INTO statement to insert a new record. For example:
INSERT INTO Customers (Name, Email, Phone)

VALUES ('John Smith', 'john@example.com', '123-456-7890');

16: Write a SQL query to retrieve all columns for customers whose last name is "Smith."

A: Here's a query to achieve this:

ills
SELECT * FROM Customers WHERE LastName = 'Smith';

17: How do you filter records in a table to only include those with a salary greater than $50,000?

Sk
A: You can use the WHERE clause to filter records based on the salary. For example:

SELECT * FROM Employees WHERE Salary > 50000;

a
18: Write an SQL query to retrieve a list of products sorted by price in descending order.
at
A: SELECT *

FROM Products
D

ORDER BY Price DESC;

w

19: Explain the difference between GROUP BY and ORDER BY clauses.

A: GROUP BY is used to group rows that have the same values in specified columns, typically
ro

used with aggregate functions. ORDER BY is used to sort the result set based on specified
columns.
G

20: How do you filter for NULL values in SQL?

A: You can filter for NULL values using the IS NULL or IS NOT NULL operators. For example:

SELECT * FROM Employees WHERE Department IS NULL;

21: What is the difference between INNER JOIN and LEFT JOIN?
A: An INNER JOIN retrieves records that have matching values in both tables, while a LEFT
JOIN retrieves all records from the left table and the matched records from the right table, filling
in with NULLs if there's no match.

22: How can you combine multiple conditions in a WHERE clause?

A: You can combine conditions in a WHERE clause using logical operators such as AND, OR,
and parentheses to control the order of evaluation. For example:

ills
SELECT * FROM Employees WHERE Salary > 50000 AND Department = 'Sales';

23: Write a query to calculate the average salary of all employees in the "Employees" table.

Sk
A: Here's a query to calculate the average salary:

SELECT AVG(Salary) FROM Employees;

a
24: How do you find the highest salary in the "Salaries" column of a table using SQL?
at
A: You can use the MAX function to find the highest salary. For example:
D

SELECT MAX(Salary) FROM Salaries;

w

25: Write an SQL query to calculate the total price of all products in a "Products" table.

A: To calculate the total price, you can use the SUM function:
ro

SELECT SUM(Price) FROM Products;

G

26: Explain how to use the DATEADD function to add 7 days to a given date.

A: SELECT DATEADD(DAY, 7, SomeDate) FROM YourTable;

27: Write a query to find the absolute value of a number stored in a column.

A: You can use the ABS function to find the absolute value. For example:
SELECT ABS(Number) FROM YourTable;

28: How would you round a decimal number to the nearest whole number using SQL?

A: You can use the ROUND function to round a decimal number. For example:

SELECT ROUND(DecimalColumn) FROM YourTable;

29: Write a query to retrieve the current date and time in SQL.

ills
A: You can use the GETDATE() function:

SELECT GETDATE();

Sk
30: How can you calculate the difference in days between two dates using DATEDIFF?

A: You can use DATEDIFF like this:

SELECT DATEDIFF(DAY, StartDate, EndDate) FROM YourTable;

a
32: Write a query to extract the month from a date column using DATEPART.
at
A: You can use DATEPART to extract the month:

SELECT DATEPART(MONTH, DateColumn) FROM YourTable;

D

33: Explain how the CONVERT function can be used to change a date's format in SQL.
w

A: You can use CONVERT to change the format of a date:

SELECT CONVERT(VARCHAR, DateColumn, 103) FROM YourTable;

ro
G

MEDIUM:

1. What is Cursor? How to use a Cursor?

After any variable declaration, DECLARE a cursor. A SELECT Statement must always be
coupled with the cursor definition.
To start the result set, move the cursor over it. Before obtaining rows from the result set, the
OPEN statement must be executed.

To retrieve and go to the next row in the result set, use the FETCH command.

To disable the cursor, use the CLOSE command.

Finally, use the DEALLOCATE command to remove the cursor definition and free up the
resources connected with it.

2. What is an Index? Explain its different types.

ills
A database index is a data structure that provides a quick lookup of data in a column or columns
of a table. It enhances the speed of operations accessing data from a database table at the cost
of additional writes and memory to maintain the index data structure.

Sk
CREATE INDEX index_name /* Create Index */

ON table_name (column_1, column_2);

DROP INDEX index_name; /* Drop Index */

a
at
There are different types of indexes that can be created for different purposes:
D

● Unique and Non-Unique Index:

Unique indexes are indexes that help maintain data integrity by ensuring that no two rows of
data in a table have identical key values. Once a unique index has been defined for a table,
w

uniqueness is enforced whenever keys are added or changed within the index.
ro

CREATE UNIQUE INDEX myIndex

ON students (enroll_no);
G

Non-unique indexes, on the other hand, are not used to enforce constraints on the tables with
which they are associated. Instead, non-unique indexes are used solely to improve query
performance by maintaining a sorted order of data values that are used frequently.

● Clustered and Non-Clustered Index:

Clustered indexes are indexes whose order of the rows in the database corresponds to the
order of the rows in the index. This is why only one clustered index can exist in a given table,
whereas, multiple non-clustered indexes can exist in the table.

The only difference between clustered and non-clustered indexes is that the database manager
attempts to keep the data in the database in the same order as the corresponding keys appear
in the clustered index.

ills
Clustering indexes can improve the performance of most query operations because they
provide a linear-access path to data stored in the database.

Sk
3. What is the difference between Clustered and Non-clustered index?

● Clustered index modifies the way records are stored in a database based on the indexed
column. A non-clustered index creates a separate entity within the table which
references the original table.
a
● Clustered index is used for easy and speedy retrieval of data from the database,
whereas, fetching records from the non-clustered index is relatively slower.
at
● In SQL, a table can have a single clustered index whereas it can have multiple
non-clustered indexes.
D

4. What is Data Integrity?

w

Data Integrity is the assurance of accuracy and consistency of data over its entire life-cycle and
is a critical aspect of the design, implementation, and usage of any system which stores,
processes, or retrieves data. It also defines integrity constraints to enforce business rules on the
ro

data when it is entered into an application or a database.

G

5. What is a Query?

A query is a request for data or information from a database table or combination of tables. A
database query can be either a select query or an action query.

SELECT fname, lname /* select query */

FROM myDb.students
WHERE student_id = 1;

UPDATE myDB.students /* action query */

SET fname = 'Captain', lname = 'America'

WHERE student_id = 1;

ills
6. What is a Subquery? What are its types?

A subquery is a query within another query, also known as a nested query or inner query. It is
used to restrict or enhance the data to be queried by the main query, thus restricting or

Sk
enhancing the output of the main query respectively. For example, here we fetch the contact
information for students who have enrolled for the maths subject:

SELECT name, email, mob, address

FROM myDb.contacts

WHERE roll_no IN (
a
at
SELECT roll_no

FROM myDb.students
D

WHERE subject = 'Maths');

There are two types of subquery - Correlated and Non-Correlated.

w

● A correlated subquery cannot be considered as an independent query, but it can refer to

ro

the column in a table listed in the FROM of the main query.

● A non-correlated subquery can be considered as an independent query and the output
of the subquery is substituted in the main query.
G

7. What is the SELECT statement?

SELECT operator in SQL is used to select data from a database. The data returned is stored in
a result table, called the result-set.

SELECT * FROM myDB.students;

8. What are some common clauses used with SELECT query in SQL?

Some common SQL clauses used in conjuction with a SELECT query are as follows:

● WHERE clause in SQL is used to filter records that are necessary, based on specific
conditions.
● ORDER BY clause in SQL is used to sort the records based on some field(s) in
ascending (ASC) or descending order (DESC).

ills
SELECT *

FROM myDB.students

WHERE graduation_year = 2019

Sk
ORDER BY studentID DESC;

● GROUP BY clause in SQL is used to group records with identical data and can be used
in conjunction with some aggregation functions to produce summarized results from the

●
database.
a
HAVING clause in SQL is used to filter records in combination with the GROUP BY
at
clause. It is different from WHERE, since the WHERE clause cannot filter aggregated
records.
D

SELECT COUNT(studentId), country

FROM myDB.students
w

WHERE country != "INDIA"

GROUP BY country
ro

HAVING COUNT(studentID) > 5;

G

9. Differentiate between the WHERE clause and HAVING clause in SQL.

The WHERE clause and the HAVING clause are both used in SQL to filter rows in a query, but
they are used at different stages of query processing and serve different purposes:

WHERE Clause:

● Usage: The WHERE clause is used to filter rows from the result set based on conditions
applied to individual rows before the grouping or aggregation.
 ● Timing: The WHERE clause is evaluated before the GROUP BY clause (if present) and
before any aggregation functions (e.g., SUM, AVG, COUNT) are applied.
● Filtering: It filters rows based on conditions applied to individual columns. For example,
you can use it to filter rows where a specific column meets a certain condition.
● Aggregation: The WHERE clause cannot be used to filter based on aggregate functions
like SUM, AVG, MAX, or MIN.

Example: Filtering employees with a salary greater than $50,000:

SELECT * FROM Employees WHERE Salary > 50000;

ills
HAVING Clause:

Sk
● Usage: The HAVING clause is used to filter rows from the result set based on conditions
applied to the result of aggregate functions after grouping.
● Timing: The HAVING clause is evaluated after the GROUP BY clause, and it is used to
filter the result set after aggregation.
a
● Filtering: It filters groups of rows based on conditions applied to the result of aggregate
functions. For example, you can use it to filter groups with a sum greater than a certain
value.
at
● Aggregation: The HAVING clause is specifically designed for filtering based on
aggregate functions. It allows you to filter groups based on their aggregate values.
D

Example: Filtering departments with a total salary expense greater than $1,000,000:

SELECT Department, SUM(Salary) AS TotalSalary

w

FROM Employees

GROUP BY Department
ro

HAVING SUM(Salary) > 1000000;

G

In summary, the WHERE clause is used for row-level filtering before grouping and aggregation,
while the HAVING clause is used for filtering groups of rows after aggregation based on the
result of aggregate functions.

10. What are UNION, MINUS and INTERSECT commands?

 ● The UNION operator combines and returns the result-set retrieved by two or more
SELECT statements.
● The MINUS operator in SQL is used to remove duplicates from the result-set obtained by
the second SELECT query from the result-set obtained by the first SELECT query and
then return the filtered results from the first.
● The INTERSECT clause in SQL combines the result-set fetched by the two SELECT
statements where records from one match the other and then returns this intersection of
result-sets.

ills
Certain conditions need to be met before executing either of the above statements in SQL -

● Each SELECT statement within the clause must have the same number of columns
● The columns must also have similar data types

Sk
● The columns in each SELECT statement should necessarily have the same order

SELECT name FROM Students /* Fetch the union of queries */

UNION a
SELECT name FROM Contacts;
at
SELECT name FROM Students /* Fetch the union of queries with duplicates*/

UNION ALL
D

SELECT name FROM Contacts;

SELECT name FROM Students /* Fetch names from students */

w

MINUS /* that aren't present in contacts */

SELECT name FROM Contacts;

ro

SELECT name FROM Students /* Fetch names from students */

G

INTERSECT /* that are present in contacts as well */

SELECT name FROM Contacts;

11. What are Entities and Relationships?

Entity: An entity can be a real-world object, either tangible or intangible, that can be easily
identifiable. For example, in a college database, students, professors, workers, departments,
and projects can be referred to as entities. Each entity has some associated properties that
provide it an identity.

Relationships: Relations or links between entities that have something to do with each other. For
example - The employee's table in a company's database can be associated with the salary
table in the same database.

ills
Sk
a
at
D
w
ro

12. List the different types of relationships in SQL.

G

● One-to-One - This can be defined as the relationship between two tables where each
record in one table is associated with the maximum of one record in the other table.
● One-to-Many & Many-to-One - This is the most commonly used relationship where a
record in a table is associated with multiple records in the other table.
● Many-to-Many - This is used in cases when multiple instances on both sides are needed
for defining a relationship.
● Self-Referencing Relationships - This is used when a table needs to define a relationship
with itself.
13. What is an Alias in SQL?

An alias is a feature of SQL that is supported by most, if not all, RDBMSs. It is a temporary
name assigned to the table or table column for the purpose of a particular SQL query. In
addition, aliasing can be employed as an obfuscation technique to secure the real names of
database fields. A table alias is also called a correlation name.

ills
An alias is represented explicitly by the AS keyword but in some cases, the same can be
performed without it as well. Nevertheless, using the AS keyword is always a good practice.

Sk
SELECT A.emp_name AS "Employee" /* Alias using AS keyword */

B.emp_name AS "Supervisor"

FROM employee A, employee B /* Alias without AS keyword */

WHERE A.emp_sup = B.emp_id;

a
at
14. What is a View?
D

A view in SQL is a virtual table based on the result-set of an SQL statement. A view contains
rows and columns, just like a real table. The fields in a view are fields from one or more real
tables in the database.
w
ro
G
 ills
Sk
a
COLUMNS
at
D

15. What is Normalization?

Normalization represents the way of organizing structured data in the database efficiently. It
w

includes the creation of tables, establishing relationships between them, and defining rules for
those relationships. Inconsistency and redundancy can be kept in check based on these rules,
hence, adding flexibility to the database.
ro

16. What is Denormalization?

G

Denormalization is the inverse process of normalization, where the normalized schema is

converted into a schema that has redundant information. The performance is improved by using
redundancy and keeping the redundant data consistent. The reason for performing
denormalization is the overheads produced in the query processor by an over-normalized
structure.

17. What are the various forms of Normalization?

Normal Forms are used to eliminate or reduce redundancy in database tables. The different
forms are as follows:

● First Normal Form:

A relation is in first normal form if every attribute in that relation is a single-valued attribute. If a
relation contains a composite or multi-valued attribute, it violates the first normal form. Let's
consider the following students table. Each student in the table, has a name, his/her address,
and the books they issued from the public library -

ills
Sk
a
at
As we can observe, the Books Issued field has more than one value per record, and to convert
it into 1NF, this has to be resolved into separate individual records for each book issued. Check
the following table in 1NF form -
D

Students Table (1st Normal Form)

w
ro
G
 ● Second Normal Form:

A relation is in second normal form if it satisfies the conditions for the first normal form and does
not contain any partial dependency. A relation in 2NF has no partial dependency, i.e., it has no
non-prime attribute that depends on any proper subset of any candidate key of the table. Often,
specifying a single column Primary Key is the solution to the problem. Examples -

Example 1 - Consider the above example. As we can observe, the Students Table in the 1NF

ills
form has a candidate key in the form of [Student, Address] that can uniquely identify all records
in the table. The field Books Issued (non-prime attribute) depends partially on the Student field.
Hence, the table is not in 2NF. To convert it into the 2nd Normal Form, we will partition the tables
into two while specifying a new Primary Key attribute to identify the individual records in the
Students table. The Foreign Key constraint will be set on the other table to ensure referential

Sk
integrity.

a
at
D
w
ro
G
Example 2 - Consider the following dependencies in relation to R(W,X,Y,Z)

WX -> Y [W and X together determine Y]

XY -> Z [X and Y together determine Z]

Here, WX is the only candidate key and there is no partial dependency, i.e., any proper subset
of WX doesn’t determine any non-prime attribute in the relation.

ills
● Third Normal Form

A relation is said to be in the third normal form, if it satisfies the conditions for the second normal

Sk
form and there is no transitive dependency between the non-prime attributes, i.e., all non-prime
attributes are determined only by the candidate keys of the relation and not by any other
non-prime attribute.

Example 1 - Consider the Students Table in the above example. As we can observe, the
a
Students Table in the 2NF form has a single candidate key Student_ID (primary key) that can
uniquely identify all records in the table. The field Salutation (non-prime attribute), however,
at
depends on the Student Field rather than the candidate key. Hence, the table is not in 3NF. To
convert it into the 3rd Normal Form, we will once again partition the tables into two while
specifying a new Foreign Key constraint to identify the salutations for individual records in the
D

Students table. The Primary Key constraint for the same will be set on the Salutations table to
identify each record uniquely.
w
ro
G
 ills
Sk
a
at
D

Example 2 - Consider the following dependencies in relation to R(P,Q,R,S,T)

w

P -> QR [P together determine C]

RS -> T [B and C together determine D]

ro

Q -> S

T -> P
G

For the above relation to exist in 3NF, all possible candidate keys in the above relation should
be {P, RS, QR, T}.

● Boyce-Codd Normal Form

A relation is in Boyce-Codd Normal Form if satisfies the conditions for third normal form and for
every functional dependency, Left-Hand-Side is super key. In other words, a relation in BCNF
has non-trivial functional dependencies in form X –> Y, such that X is always a super key. For
example - In the above example, Student_ID serves as the sole unique identifier for the
Students Table and Salutation_ID for the Salutations Table, thus these tables exist in BCNF. The
same cannot be said for the Books Table and there can be several books with common Book
Names and the same Student_ID.

18. What are the TRUNCATE, DELETE and DROP statements?

DELETE statement is used to delete rows from a table.

DELETE FROM Candidates

ills
WHERE CandidateId > 1000;

TRUNCATE command is used to delete all the rows from the table and free the space

Sk
containing the table.

TRUNCATE TABLE Candidates;

DROP command is used to remove an object from the database. If you drop a table, all the
a
rows in the table are deleted and the table structure is removed from the database.
at
DROP TABLE Candidates;
D

19. What is the difference between DROP and TRUNCATE statements?

If a table is dropped, all things associated with the tables are dropped as well. This includes -
w

the relationships defined on the table with other tables, the integrity checks and constraints,
access privileges and other grants that the table has. To create and use the table again in its
original form, all these relations, checks, constraints, privileges and relationships need to be
ro

redefined. However, if a table is truncated, none of the above problems exist and the table
retains its original structure.
G

20. What is the difference between DELETE and TRUNCATE statements?

The TRUNCATE command is used to delete all the rows from the table and free the space
containing the table.

The DELETE command deletes only the rows from the table based on the condition given in the
where clause or deletes all the rows from the table if no condition is specified. But it does not
free the space containing the table.
21. What are Aggregate and Scalar functions?

An aggregate function performs operations on a collection of values to return a single scalar

value. Aggregate functions are often used with the GROUP BY and HAVING clauses of the
SELECT statement. Following are the widely used SQL aggregate functions:

AVG() - Calculates the mean of a collection of values.

COUNT() - Counts the total number of records in a specific table or view.

MIN() - Calculates the minimum of a collection of values.

ills
MAX() - Calculates the maximum of a collection of values.

SUM() - Calculates the sum of a collection of values.

Sk
FIRST() - Fetches the first element in a collection of values.

LAST() - Fetches the last element in a collection of values.

Note: All aggregate functions described above ignore NULL values except for the COUNT
function.
a
A scalar function returns a single value based on the input value. Following are the widely used
at
SQL scalar functions:
D

LEN() - Calculates the total length of the given field (column).

UCASE() - Converts a collection of string values to uppercase characters.

LCASE() - Converts a collection of string values to lowercase characters.

w

MID() - Extracts substrings from a collection of string values in a table.

ro

CONCAT() - Concatenates two or more strings.

RAND() - Generates a random collection of numbers of a given length.

ROUND() - Calculates the round-off integer value for a numeric field (or decimal point values).
G

NOW() - Returns the current date & time.

FORMAT() - Sets the format to display a collection of values.

22: Write a SQL query to retrieve all information about employees along with their department
names using an INNER JOIN.
A:

SELECT Employees.*, Departments.DepartmentName

FROM Employees

INNER JOIN Departments ON Employees.DepartmentID = Departments.ID;

23: How does a LEFT JOIN differ from an INNER JOIN, and when would you use each?

A: A LEFT JOIN retrieves all records from the left table and the matched records from the right

ills
table, filling in with NULLs if there's no match. An INNER JOIN retrieves only the records with
matching values in both tables. Use LEFT JOIN when you want to retrieve all records from the
left table, even if there are no matches in the right table.

Sk
24: Explain how to perform a self-join in SQL.

A: A self-join is performed when a table is joined with itself. You need to use table aliases to
distinguish between the two instances of the table. For example:

SELECT e1.Name, e2.Name

a
at
FROM Employees e1

INNER JOIN Employees e2 ON e1.ManagerID = e2.ID;

D

25: Write a query to find all customers who have not placed an order using a RIGHT JOIN.

A: Here's an example query:

w
ro

SELECT Customers.Name

FROM Customers

RIGHT JOIN Orders ON Customers.ID = Orders.CustomerID

G

WHERE Orders.CustomerID IS NULL;

26: What is the result of a FULL OUTER JOIN between two tables, and when would you use it?
A: A FULL OUTER JOIN returns all rows when there is a match in either the left or the right
table. When there's no match, NULL values are included in the result. You would use it when
you want to include all records from both tables, whether they match or not.

27: How do you perform a cross join between two tables?

A: A cross join, also known as a Cartesian join, combines all rows from the first table with all
rows from the second table. You can do it like this:

ills
SELECT * FROM Table1

CROSS JOIN Table2;

Sk
28: Write a SQL query to retrieve a list of products and their suppliers using an INNER JOIN.

A: Here's an example query:

a
SELECT Products.ProductName, Suppliers.SupplierName

FROM Products
at
INNER JOIN Suppliers ON Products.SupplierID = Suppliers.ID;
D

29: How can you join three or more tables together in a single query?

A: You can join three or more tables by extending the JOIN clauses. For example:
w

SELECT *
ro

FROM Table1

INNER JOIN Table2 ON Table1.ID = Table2.Table1ID

G

INNER JOIN Table3 ON Table2.ID = Table3.Table2ID;

30: Write a query to find the common records between two tables using an INNER JOIN.

A: Here's an example query:

SELECT *

FROM Table1
INNER JOIN Table2 ON Table1.CommonColumn = Table2.CommonColumn;

31: Write a SQL query that uses a subquery to find the details of employees with salary higher
than average salary among employees.

A: You can use a subquery like this:

Select *

From Employees where Salary > (SELECT AVG(Salary) FROM Employees);

ills
32: Explain the difference between a single-row subquery and a multi-row subquery.

A: A single-row subquery returns only one value or row, typically used with single-value

Sk
comparisons. A multi-row subquery returns multiple rows, often used with IN or EXISTS
operators.

33: Write a subquery to find all orders placed by a customer with a specific ID.

A: SELECT *

FROM Orders
a
at
WHERE CustomerID = (SELECT ID FROM Customers WHERE Name = 'John Smith');
D

34: What is a correlated subquery, and when would you use it?

A: A correlated subquery refers to the outer query's columns within the subquery. It's used when
you need to compare values from the outer query with values in the subquery. For example,
w

finding employees whose salary is greater than the department's average salary.
ro

35: How can you use a subquery to find records that are not present in another table?

A: You can use a subquery with the NOT IN or NOT EXISTS operators to find records that don't
G

match a condition in another table. For example:

SELECT *

FROM Customers

WHERE CustomerID NOT IN (SELECT CustomerID FROM Orders);

36: Write a SQL query with a subquery to calculate the average order total for each customer.
A:

SELECT Customers.Name, (SELECT AVG(Total)

FROM Orders

WHERE CustomerID = Customers.ID) AS AverageOrderTotal

FROM Customers;

37: Explain the concept of a scalar subquery.

ills
A: A scalar subquery returns a single value and can be used in expressions, assignments, or
comparisons.

Sk
38: How would you rewrite a subquery as a JOIN statement for performance optimization?

A: Subqueries can often be rewritten as JOIN statements, which can improve performance. For
example, a subquery like this:

SELECT *
a
at
FROM Orders

WHERE CustomerID = (SELECT ID FROM Customers WHERE Name = 'John Smith');

D

can be rewritten as:

SELECT Orders.*
w

FROM Orders

INNER JOIN Customers ON Orders.CustomerID = Customers.ID

ro

WHERE Customers.Name = 'John Smith';

G

39: Write a subquery to find the product with the highest price.

A: Here's a subquery to achieve that:

SELECT ProductName

FROM Products

WHERE Price = (SELECT MAX(Price) FROM Products);

40: How do you use subqueries with the IN and EXISTS operators?

A: You can use the IN operator to check if a value exists in the result set of a subquery. The
EXISTS operator checks if a subquery returns any rows. For example:

SELECT * FROM Customers WHERE CustomerID IN (SELECT CustomerID FROM Orders);

ills
41: Write a query that uses ROW_NUMBER to assign a unique number to each row in a result
set.

A: Here's an example query:

Sk
SELECT Name, ROW_NUMBER() OVER (ORDER BY Salary DESC) AS RowNum FROM
Employees;

42: Explain the purpose of the PARTITION BY clause in window functions.

a
A: The PARTITION BY clause divides the result set into partitions to which the window function
is applied separately. It's used for performing calculations within specific groups.
at
43: Write a query that calculates the average salary for each department using the AVG()
D

window function.

A: You can use the AVG() window function with PARTITION BY like this:
w

SELECT Department, AVG(Salary) OVER (PARTITION BY Department) AS AvgSalary

FROM Employees;
ro

44: How do you use the LAG() function to access the value of a previous row in a result set?
G

A:

SELECT Name, Salary, LAG(Salary) OVER (ORDER BY Salary) AS PrevSalary

FROM Employees;

45: Write a query to find the top 3 products with the highest sales using window functions.

A:
SELECT ProductName, TotalSales FROM (

SELECT ProductName, SUM(Quantity * Price) AS TotalSales,

ROW_NUMBER() OVER (ORDER BY SUM(Quantity * Price) DESC) AS RowNum

FROM OrderDetails

GROUP BY ProductName

) AS RankedProducts

WHERE RowNum <= 3;

ills
46: Explain the difference between ROW_NUMBER(), RANK(), and DENSE_RANK() functions.

A: ROW_NUMBER() assigns a unique number to each row, RANK() assigns a unique rank to

Sk
rows with the same values, and DENSE_RANK() assigns a unique rank but doesn't leave gaps
for duplicate values.

47: How can you calculate a running total using window functions?
a
A: You can use the SUM() window function with an ORDER BY clause to calculate a running
total. For example:
at
SELECT Date, Revenue, SUM(Revenue) OVER (ORDER BY Date) AS RunningTotal

FROM Sales;
D

48: Write a query that uses the FIRST_VALUE() function to retrieve the earliest order date for
each customer.
w

A: You can use FIRST_VALUE() like this:

ro

SELECT CustomerID, OrderDate, FIRST_VALUE(OrderDate) OVER (PARTITION BY

CustomerID ORDER BY OrderDate) AS EarliestOrderDate

FROM Orders;
G

49: Explain the concept of a window frame in window functions.

A: A window frame defines the set of rows used for each calculation in a window function. It can
be defined using ROWS BETWEEN or RANGE BETWEEN to specify a range of rows relative to
the current row.
50: How do you use the LEAD() function to access the value of a subsequent row in a result
set?

A: You can use LEAD() like this:

SELECT Name, Salary, LEAD(Salary) OVER (ORDER BY Salary) AS NextSalary

FROM Employees;

ADVANCED:

ills
1. What is User-defined function? What are its various types?

The user-defined functions in SQL are like functions in any other programming language that

Sk
accept parameters, perform complex calculations, and return a value. They are written to use
the logic repetitively whenever required. There are two types of SQL user-defined functions:

● Scalar Function: As explained earlier, user-defined scalar functions return a single scalar
value.
●
a
Table-Valued Functions: User-defined table-valued functions return a table as output.
o Inline: returns a table data type based on a single SELECT statement.
at
o Multi-statement: returns a tabular result-set but, unlike inline, multiple SELECT
statements can be used inside the function body.
D

2. What is OLTP?
w

OLTP stands for Online Transaction Processing, is a class of software applications capable of
supporting transaction-oriented programs. An essential attribute of an OLTP system is its ability
ro

to maintain concurrency. To avoid single points of failure, OLTP systems are often decentralized.
These systems are usually designed for a large number of users who conduct short
transactions. Database queries are usually simple, require sub-second response times, and
return relatively few records. Here is an insight into the working of an OLTP system
G
 ills
Sk
a
at
3. What are the differences between OLTP and OLAP?

OLTP stands for Online Transaction Processing, is a class of software applications capable of
D

supporting transaction-oriented programs. An important attribute of an OLTP system is its ability

to maintain concurrency. OLTP systems often follow a decentralized architecture to avoid single
points of failure. These systems are generally designed for a large audience of end-users who
conduct short transactions. Queries involved in such databases are generally simple, need fast
w

response times, and return relatively few records. A number of transactions per second acts as
an effective measure for such systems.
ro

OLAP stands for Online Analytical Processing, a class of software programs that are
characterized by the relatively low frequency of online transactions. Queries are often too
G

complex and involve a bunch of aggregations. For OLAP systems, the effectiveness measure
relies highly on response time. Such systems are widely used for data mining or maintaining
aggregated, historical data, usually in multi-dimensional schemas.
 ills
Sk
4. What is Collation? What are the different types of Collation Sensitivity?

Collation refers to a set of rules that determine how data is sorted and compared. Rules defining
the correct character sequence are used to sort the character data. It incorporates options for
specifying case sensitivity, accent marks, kana character types, and character width. Below are
a
the different types of collation sensitivity:
at
o Case sensitivity: A and a are treated differently.
o Accent sensitivity: a and á are treated differently.
D

o Kana sensitivity: Japanese kana characters Hiragana and Katakana are treated
differently.
o Width sensitivity: Same character represented in single-byte (half-width) and double-byte
(full-width) are treated differently.
w
ro

5. What is a Stored Procedure?

A stored procedure is a subroutine available to applications that access a relational database

management system (RDBMS). Such procedures are stored in the database data dictionary.
G

The sole disadvantage of stored procedure is that it can be executed nowhere except in the
database and occupies more memory in the database server. It also provides a sense of
security and functionality as users who can't access the data directly can be granted access via
stored procedures.

DELIMITER $$

CREATE PROCEDURE FetchAllStudents()

BEGIN

SELECT * FROM myDB.students;

END $$

DELIMITER ;

ills
Sk
a
at
6. What is a Recursive Stored Procedure?

A stored procedure that calls itself until a boundary condition is reached, is called a recursive
stored procedure. This recursive function helps the programmers to deploy the same set of
D

code several times as and when required. Some SQL programming languages limit the
recursion depth to prevent an infinite loop of procedure calls from causing a stack overflow,
which slows down the system and may lead to system crashes.
w

DELIMITER $$ /* Set a new delimiter => $$ */

ro

CREATE PROCEDURE calctotal( /* Create the procedure */

IN number INT, /* Set Input and Ouput variables */

G

OUT total INT

) BEGIN

DECLARE score INT DEFAULT NULL; /* Set the default value => "score" */

SELECT awards FROM achievements /* Update "score" via SELECT query */

WHERE id = number INTO score;

IF score IS NULL THEN SET total = 0; /* Termination condition */

ELSE

CALL calctotal(number+1); /* Recursive call */

SET total = total + score; /* Action after recursion */

END IF;

END $$ /* End of procedure */

DELIMITER ; /* Reset the delimiter */

ills
7. How to create empty tables with the same structure as another table?

Creating empty tables with the same structure can be done smartly by fetching the records of

Sk
one table into a new table using the INTO operator while fixing a WHERE clause to be false for
all records. Hence, SQL prepares the new table with a duplicate structure to accept the fetched
records but since no records get fetched due to the WHERE clause in action, nothing is inserted
into the new table.

SELECT * INTO Students_copy

a
at
FROM Students WHERE 1 = 2;
D

8. What is Pattern Matching in SQL?

SQL pattern matching provides for pattern search in data if you have no clue as to what that
w

word should be. This kind of SQL query uses wildcards to match a string pattern, rather than
writing the exact word. The LIKE operator is used in conjunction with SQL Wildcards to fetch the
ro

required information.

o Using the % wildcard to perform a simple search

G

The % wildcard matches zero or more characters of any type and can be used to define
wildcards both before and after the pattern. Search a student in your database with first name
beginning with the letter K:

SELECT *

FROM students

WHERE first_name LIKE 'K%'

 o Omitting the patterns using the NOT keyword

Use the NOT keyword to select records that don't match the pattern. This query returns all
students whose first name does not begin with K.

SELECT *

FROM students

ills
WHERE first_name NOT LIKE 'K%'

o Matching a pattern anywhere using the % wildcard twice

Sk
Search for a student in the database where he/she has a K in his/her first name.

SELECT *

FROM students

WHERE first_name LIKE '%Q%'

a
at
o Using the _ wildcard to match pattern at a specific position
D

The _ wildcard matches exactly one character of any type. It can be used in conjunction with %
wildcard. This query fetches all students with letter K at the third position in their first name.
w

SELECT *

FROM students
ro

WHERE first_name LIKE '__K%'

G

o Matching patterns for a specific length

The _ wildcard plays an important role as a limitation when it matches exactly one character. It
limits the length and position of the matched results. For example -

SELECT * /* Matches first names with three or more letters */

FROM students
WHERE first_name LIKE '___%'

SELECT * /* Matches first names with exactly four characters */

FROM students

WHERE first_name LIKE '____'

Scaler Courses

ills
9. Does SQL support programming language features?

It is true that SQL is a language, but it does not support programming as it is not a programming
language, it is a command language. We do not have conditional statements in SQL like for

Sk
loops or if..else, we only have commands which we can use to query, update, delete, etc. data
in the database. SQL allows us to manipulate data in a database.

10. What is the difference between BETWEEN and IN operators in SQL?

●
a
BETWEEN: The BETWEEN operator is used to fetch rows based on a range of values.
at
For example:

SELECT * FROM Students

D

WHERE ROLL_NO BETWEEN 20 AND 30;

This query will select all those rows from the table. Students where the value of the field
ROLL_NO lies between 20 and 30.
w
ro

● IN :The IN operator is used to check for values contained in specific sets.

For example,:

SELECT * FROM Students

G

WHERE ROLL_NO IN (20,21,23);

This query will select all those rows from the table Students where the value of the field
ROLL_NO is either 20 or 21 or 23.

11. What is the difference between CHAR and VARCHAR2 datatype in SQL?
Both of these data types are used for characters, but varchar2 is used for character strings of
variable length, whereas char is used for character strings of fixed length. For example, if we
specify the type as char(5) then we will not be allowed to store a string of any other length in this
variable, but if we specify the type of this variable as varchar2(5) then we will be allowed to
store strings of variable length. We can store a string of length 3 or 4 or 2 in this variable.

12. Name different types of case manipulation functions available in SQL.

There are three types of case manipulation functions available in SQL. They are:

ills
LOWER: The purpose of this function is to return the string in lowercase. It takes a string as an
argument and returns the string by converting it into lower case.

Sk
Syntax:

LOWER('string')

UPPER: The purpose of this function is to return the string in uppercase. It takes a string as an
a
argument and returns the string by converting it into uppercase.

Syntax:
at
UPPER('string')
D

INITCAP: The purpose of this function is to return the string with the first letter in uppercase and
the rest of the letters in lowercase.

Syntax:
w

INITCAP('string')
ro

13. What is the On Delete cascade constraint?

An ‘ON DELETE CASCADE’ constraint is used in MySQL to delete the rows from the child table
G

automatically when the rows from the parent table are deleted.

14. What is Auto Increment?

Sometimes, while creating a table, we do not have a unique identifier within the table, hence we
face difficulty in choosing Primary Key. So as to resolve such an issue, we’ve to manually
provide unique keys to every record, but this is often also a tedious task. So we can use the
Auto-Increment feature that automatically generates a numerical Primary key value for every
new record inserted. The Auto Increment feature is supported by all the Databases.

15. Why do we use Commit and Rollback commands?

COMMIT ROLLBACK

COMMIT permanently saves the changes made ROLLBACK undo the changes made by

ills
by the current transaction. the current transaction.

The transaction can not undo changes after Transaction reaches its previous state
COMMIT execution. after ROLLBACK.

Sk
When the transaction is successful, COMMIT is When the transaction is aborted,
applied. ROLLBACK occurs.
a
at
16. What are ACID properties?
D

A transaction is a single logical unit of work that accesses and possibly modifies the contents of
a database. Transactions access data using read-and-write operations. In order to maintain
consistency in a database, before and after the transaction, certain properties are followed.
These are called ACID properties. ACID (Atomicity, Consistency, Isolation, Durability) is a set of
w

properties that guarantee that database transactions are processed reliably.

ro

17. How do we avoid getting duplicate entries in a query without using the distinct keyword?

DISTINCT is useful in certain circumstances, but it has drawbacks that it can increase the load
on the query engine to perform the sort (since it needs to compare the result set to itself to
G

remove duplicates). We can remove duplicate entries using the following options:

● Remove duplicates using row numbers.

● Remove duplicates using self-Join.
● Remove duplicates using group by.

18. What is the difference between COALESCE() & ISNULL()?

COALESCE(): COALESCE function in SQL returns the first non-NULL expression among its
arguments. If all the expressions evaluate to null, then the COALESCE function will return null.

Syntax:

SELECT column(s), CAOLESCE(expression_1,....,expression_n)

FROM table_name;

ISNULL(): The ISNULL function has different uses in SQL Server and MySQL. In SQL Server,
ISNULL() function is used to replace NULL values.

ills
Syntax:

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

Sk
FROM table_name;

19: Write an SQL statement to create a clustered index on a table.

A: CREATE CLUSTERED INDEX IX_EmployeeID ON Employees (EmployeeID);

a
at
20: How can you check if an index exists on a specific table and column?

A: You can use the sys.indexes catalog view to check for the existence of an index. For
example:
D

SELECT * FROM sys.indexes WHERE object_id = OBJECT_ID('YourTable') AND name =

'YourIndex';
w
ro

21: Write a query that uses an index to improve the performance of a SELECT statement.

A: An index can improve the performance of a query by allowing faster data retrieval. Ensure
that the columns in your WHERE clause or JOIN conditions are indexed. For example, if you
G

have an index on the "LastName" column:

SELECT * FROM Customers WHERE LastName = 'Smith';

22: What are the advantages and disadvantages of using indexes?

A:
Advantages: Faster data retrieval, improved query performance, efficient sorting, and reduced
disk I/O.

Disadvantages: Increased storage requirements, slower data modification (INSERT, UPDATE,

DELETE) operations, and maintenance overhead.

23: How do you rebuild or reorganize an index in SQL?

A: You can use the ALTER INDEX statement to rebuild or reorganize an index. For example:

ills
ALTER INDEX YourIndex ON YourTable REBUILD;

Sk
24: Explain the concept of covering indexes and their benefits.

A: A covering index includes all the columns needed to satisfy a query, allowing the database
engine to retrieve data directly from the index without accessing the table itself. This can
significantly improve query performance by reducing I/O.
a
25. How can you disable or drop an existing index?
at
A: To disable an index temporarily:

ALTER INDEX YourIndex ON YourTable DISABLE;

D

To drop an index:

DROP INDEX YourTable.YourIndex;

w

26: What is index cardinality, and why is it important for query optimization?
ro

A: Index cardinality represents the uniqueness of values in a column. High cardinality means
that most values are unique, while low cardinality means many values are the same. High
cardinality indexes are more selective and generally improve query optimization.
G

27: Write a SQL statement to create a stored procedure that retrieves employee information.

A:

CREATE PROCEDURE GetEmployeeInfo

AS

BEGIN
 SELECT * FROM Employees;

END;

28: How do you pass parameters to a stored procedure in SQL?

A: You can pass parameters to a stored procedure using the @parameter_name syntax. For
example:

CREATE PROCEDURE GetEmployeeByID

ills
@EmployeeID INT

AS

BEGIN

Sk
SELECT * FROM Employees WHERE EmployeeID = @EmployeeID;

END;

a
29: Write a stored procedure that updates the salary of an employee based on their ID.
at
A:

CREATE PROCEDURE UpdateEmployeeSalary

D

@EmployeeID INT,

@NewSalary DECIMAL(10, 2)

AS
w

BEGIN
ro

UPDATE Employees SET Salary = @NewSalary WHERE EmployeeID = @EmployeeID;

END;
G

30: Explain the difference between input and output parameters in stored procedures.

A: Input parameters are used to pass values into the stored procedure, while output parameters
are used to return values from the stored procedure back to the caller.

31: How can you return a result set from a stored procedure?
A: You can use a SELECT statement within a stored procedure to return a result set. The result
set can be consumed by the calling program or query.

32: Write a stored procedure that deletes all orders placed by a specific customer.

A: Here's an example of a stored procedure to delete orders by customer ID:

CREATE PROCEDURE DeleteOrdersByCustomer

@CustomerID INT

ills
AS

BEGIN

DELETE FROM Orders WHERE CustomerID = @CustomerID;

Sk
END;

33: How do you modify an existing stored procedure in SQL?

a
A: To modify an existing stored procedure, you can use the ALTER PROCEDURE statement.
at
For example:

ALTER PROCEDURE YourProcedureName

D

AS

BEGIN

-- Updated procedure code here

w

END;
ro

34: How can you handle exceptions and errors within a stored procedure?

A: You can use TRY...CATCH blocks to handle exceptions and errors within a stored procedure.
G

In the CATCH block, you can log the error or perform other error-handling actions.

35: Write a SQL query to undo all changes made within a transaction and roll it back.

A: To roll back a transaction, you can use the ROLLBACK statement. For example:

BEGIN TRANSACTION;
-- Perform some operations

IF SomeCondition

BEGIN

ROLLBACK;

END;

ELSE

BEGIN

ills
COMMIT;

END;

Transactions:

Sk
36: Write a SQL query to start a new transaction.

A: You can start a new transaction using the BEGIN TRANSACTION statement:
a
BEGIN TRANSACTION;
at
37: How do you commit a transaction, and what is its purpose?
D

A: You can commit a transaction using the COMMIT statement. Committing a transaction saves
all changes made within the transaction to the database.
w

38: Explain the concept of a rollback in SQL transactions.

ro

A: A rollback is used to undo all changes made within a transaction and return the database to
its previous state before the transaction started.
G

39: How can you set a savepoint within a transaction?

A: You can set a savepoint within a transaction using the SAVE TRANSACTION statement. For
example:

SAVE TRANSACTION SavepointName;

40: Write a query to set the isolation level of a transaction to "READ COMMITTED."
A: You can set the isolation level using the SET TRANSACTION ISOLATION LEVEL statement:

SET TRANSACTION ISOLATION LEVEL READ COMMITTED;

41: How do you handle concurrent transactions and prevent conflicts?

A: Concurrent transactions can be handled by setting appropriate isolation levels, using locks to
control access, and handling conflicts through proper error handling and retry mechanisms.

ills
42: Explain the difference between implicit and explicit transactions.

A: Implicit transactions are automatically started by the database system for each SQL
statement. Explicit transactions are explicitly started and managed using BEGIN
TRANSACTION, COMMIT, and ROLLBACK statements.

Sk
43: How can you use the @@TRANCOUNT variable to manage nested transactions?

A: The @@TRANCOUNT variable is used to keep track of the number of nested transactions.
You can use it to determine whether to commit or roll back a transaction based on the nesting
level.
a
at
44: Write a SQL query to undo all changes made within a transaction and roll it back.
D

A: As mentioned earlier, you can use the ROLLBACK statement to undo changes made within a
transaction and roll it back to the previous state:

ROLLBACK;
w

45: Write an SQL statement to create a view that combines data from two tables.
ro

A:

CREATE VIEW EmployeeDetails AS

G

SELECT Employees.Name, Departments.DepartmentName

FROM Employees

INNER JOIN Departments ON Employees.DepartmentID = Departments.ID;

46: How do you modify the structure of an existing view?

A: To modify an existing view, you can use the ALTER VIEW statement. For example:
ALTER VIEW YourViewName AS

SELECT NewColumns

FROM NewTables

WHERE NewConditions;

47: Write a query to list all views in a database.

ills
A: You can retrieve information about views from the sys.views catalog view:

SELECT * FROM sys.views;

Sk
48: Explain the advantages of using views in SQL.

A: Views simplify complex queries, provide an additional layer of security by restricting direct
table access, and can enhance performance by precomputing and caching results.
a
49: How can you drop a view from a database?
at
A: To drop a view, you can use the DROP VIEW statement. For example:

DROP VIEW YourViewName;

D

50: Write a SQL query to update data in a table through a view.

A: You can update data through a view as long as it meets certain criteria, such as having an
w

updatable underlying query. For example:

UPDATE YourViewName
ro

SET ColumnName = NewValue

WHERE Condition;
G

51: Explain the concept of indexed views (materialized views) and their benefits.

A: Indexed views are views that are physically stored as tables and can have indexes. They are
used to improve query performance by precomputing and storing the results of complex queries.
52: How do you create an indexed view in SQL?

A: To create an indexed view, you can use the CREATE VIEW statement with the WITH
SCHEMABINDING option, and then create a unique clustered index on the view. For example:

CREATE VIEW YourIndexedView

WITH SCHEMABINDING

AS

ills
SELECT ...

GO

CREATE UNIQUE CLUSTERED INDEX IX_YourIndexedView ON YourIndexedView (Column1,

Sk
Column2);

53: What is the difference between a view and a table in SQL?

a
A: A table stores data physically, while a view is a virtual table that is the result of a query. Views
do not store data themselves but provide a convenient way to access and manipulate data from
at
one or more tables.
D

54: How can you use views to restrict access to specific columns of a table?

A: You can create a view that includes only the columns you want to expose to users and grant
them access to the view instead of the underlying table. This restricts their access to specific
w

columns.
ro

FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions):

G

1. Question: Write an SQL query to find the second highest salary from an "Employee" table.

Answer:

SELECT DISTINCT Salary

FROM Employee

ORDER BY Salary DESC

LIMIT 1 OFFSET 1;

2. Question: Write an SQL query to find the names of employees who earn more than their
manager.

Answer:

SELECT e.Name

FROM Employee e, Employee m

ills
WHERE e.ManagerId = m.Id AND e.Salary > m.Salary;

3. Question: Write an SQL query to find the third maximum salary from a "Salary" table.

Sk
Answer:

SELECT DISTINCT Salary

FROM Salary

ORDER BY Salary DESC

LIMIT 1 OFFSET 2;
a
at
4. Question: Write an SQL query to find the average salary of employees in each department.
D

Answer:

SELECT DepartmentId, AVG(Salary) AS AvgSalary

FROM Employee
w

GROUP BY DepartmentId;
ro

5. Question: Write an SQL query to find the names of employees who have the same salary as
the employee named "Joe".
G

Answer:

SELECT Name

FROM Employee

WHERE Salary = (SELECT Salary FROM Employee WHERE Name = 'Joe');

6. Question: Write an SQL query to find the employee with the highest salary in each
department.

Answer:

SELECT DepartmentId, MAX(Salary) AS MaxSalary

FROM Employee

GROUP BY DepartmentId;

ills
7. Question: Write an SQL query to find all duplicate emails in a "Person" table.

Answer:

SELECT Email

Sk
FROM Person

GROUP BY Email

HAVING COUNT(Email) > 1;

a
8. Question: Write an SQL query to find the nth highest salary from a "Salary" table.
at
Answer:

SELECT DISTINCT Salary

D

FROM Salary

ORDER BY Salary DESC

LIMIT 1 OFFSET n-1;

w
ro

9. Question: Write an SQL query to find the second highest order number from an "Orders"
table.

Answer:
G

SELECT DISTINCT OrderNumber

FROM Orders

ORDER BY OrderNumber DESC

LIMIT 1 OFFSET 1;

10. Question: Write an SQL query to find the department with the highest average salary.
Answer:

SELECT DepartmentId, AVG(Salary) AS AvgSalary

FROM Employee

GROUP BY DepartmentId

ORDER BY AvgSalary DESC LIMIT 1;

11. Question: Write an SQL query to find all customers who have made at least two orders in a

ills
"Customers" table.

Answer:

SELECT CustomerName F

Sk
ROM Customers

WHERE CustomerId IN ( SELECT CustomerId FROM Orders GROUP BY CustomerId HAVING

COUNT(OrderId) >= 2 );
a
12. Question: Write an SQL query to find the difference between the number of customers and
the number of orders in a "Customers" and "Orders" table.
at
Answer:

SELECT COUNT(DISTINCT CustomerId) - COUNT(DISTINCT OrderId) AS Difference

D

FROM Customers, Orders;

w

13. Question: Write an SQL query to find the average order value for each customer in an
"Orders" table.
ro

Answer:

SELECT CustomerId, AVG(OrderValue) AS AvgOrderValue

FROM ( SELECT o.CustomerId, o.OrderId, SUM(od.Quantity * od.Price) AS OrderValue FROM

G

Orders o JOIN OrderDetails od ON o.OrderId = od.OrderId GROUP BY o.CustomerId, o.OrderId

) AS Subquery

GROUP BY CustomerId;

14. Question: Write an SQL query to find the products that have never been ordered.

Answer:
SELECT ProductName FROM Products

WHERE ProductId NOT IN (SELECT DISTINCT ProductId FROM OrderDetails);

15. Question: Write an SQL query to find the total number of employees in each department,
including departments with zero employees.

Answer:

SELECT DepartmentId, COUNT(EmployeeId) AS TotalEmployees

ills
FROM ( SELECT DISTINCT DepartmentId, EmployeeId FROM Employee ) AS Subquery

GROUP BY DepartmentId;

Sk
16. Question: Write an SQL query to find the number of students who scored higher than the
average score in an "Exam" table.

Answer:

SELECT COUNT(StudentId) AS AboveAverage

a
FROM ( SELECT StudentId, Score, AVG(Score) OVER () AS AvgScore FROM Exam ) AS
Subquery WHERE Score > AvgScore;
at
17. Question: Write an SQL query to find the total sales for each month in a "Sales" table.
D

Answer:

SELECT DATE_FORMAT(SaleDate, '%Y-%m') AS Month, SUM(SaleAmount) AS TotalSales

w

FROM Sales

GROUP BY Month;
ro

18. Question: Write an SQL query to find the top N products by sales in an "OrderDetails" table.
G

Answer:

SELECT ProductId, SUM(Quantity * Price) AS TotalSales

FROM OrderDetails

GROUP BY ProductId

ORDER BY TotalSales DESC LIMIT N;

19. Question: Write an SQL query to find the first N customers who placed an order in a
"Orders" table.

Answer:

SELECT DISTINCT CustomerId FROM Orders LIMIT N;

20. Question: Write an SQL query to find the average waiting time for a customer to place an
order after their first visit in a "Customers" and "Orders" table.

Answer:

ills
SELECT AVG(DATEDIFF(MIN(OrderDate), VisitDate)) AS AvgWaitingTime

FROM ( SELECT C.CustomerId, C.VisitDate, O.OrderDate FROM Customers C LEFT JOIN (

SELECT CustomerId, MIN(OrderDate) AS OrderDate FROM Orders GROUP BY CustomerId )

Sk
O ON C.CustomerId = O.CustomerId ) Subquery;

SCENARIO BASED QUESTIONS (INTERVIEWS):

a
at
1. Question:

You are given a "Customers" table with columns Id, Name, and Country. Write an SQL query to
D

find the customers from the United States (Country = 'USA') who have made at least three
orders. Display their names and the total number of orders they have made.
w

Answer:

SELECT c.Name, COUNT(o.Id) AS TotalOrders

ro

FROM Customers c

JOIN Orders o ON c.Id = o.CustomerId

G

WHERE c.Country = 'USA'

GROUP BY c.Id, c.Name

HAVING COUNT(o.Id) >= 3;

2. Question:
You are given an "Employee" table with columns Id, Name, Salary, and DepartmentId. Write an
SQL query to find the employees who have the highest salary in each department. Display their
names, salaries, and department names.

Answer:

SELECT e.Name, e.Salary, d.Name AS DepartmentName

FROM Employee e

JOIN Department d ON e.DepartmentId = d.Id

ills
WHERE (e.DepartmentId, e.Salary) IN (

SELECT DepartmentId, MAX(Salary)

Sk
FROM Employee

GROUP BY DepartmentId

);

3. Question:
a
at
You are given a "Logs" table with columns Id, Status, and LogDate. Write an SQL query to find
the consecutive login days for each user. A consecutive login day is defined as a day where the
user logged in on the day immediately following their previous login day. Display the user's Id
D

and the start date of consecutive login days.

Answer:
w

SELECT UserId, MIN(LogDate) AS StartDate

FROM (
ro

SELECT Id, UserId, LogDate,

DATE_SUB(LogDate, INTERVAL ROW_NUMBER() OVER (PARTITION BY UserId

G

ORDER BY LogDate) DAY) AS ConsecutiveGroup

FROM Logs

) AS ConsecutiveLogins

GROUP BY UserId, ConsecutiveGroup

HAVING COUNT(Id) >= 2;

4. Question:

You are given a "Products" table with columns ProductId, ProductName, and Price. Write an
SQL query to find the top N most expensive products. Display their names and prices in
descending order of price.

Answer:

SELECT ProductName, Price

FROM Products

ills
ORDER BY Price DESC

LIMIT N;

Sk
5. Question:

You are given a "Trips" table with columns Id, Client_Id, Driver_Id, City_Id, Status, and
Request_at. The "Trips" table holds all taxi trips, and each trip has a unique Id. Write an SQL
query to find the cancellation rate of taxi requests made on the Request_at date in
a
"2013-10-01," to two decimal places. The cancellation rate is calculated as canceled requests
divided by total requests.
at
Answer:
D

SELECT

ROUND(SUM(CASE WHEN Status = 'completed' THEN 0 ELSE 1 END) / COUNT(Id), 2) AS

'Cancellation Rate'
w

FROM Trips
ro

WHERE DATE(Request_at) = '2013-10-01';

G