DBMS Interview Questions and Answers for Cognizant GenC

1. What is DBMS and what are its advantages over file systems?
A Database Management System (DBMS) is software designed to store, retrieve, define, and
manage data in a database.

Advantages over file systems:

- Data Independence
- Reduced Data Redundancy
- Data Consistency
- Data Security
- Concurrent Access
- Data Integrity
- Backup and Recovery

Example: Consider a college management system:

- File System: Separate files for students, courses, grades leading to redundancy
- DBMS: Integrated tables with relationships, ensuring data consistency and reduced
redundancy

2. Explain the different types of Database relationships with examples

There are three main types of relationships:

1. One-to-One (1:1)
One record in Table A matches exactly one record in Table B
Example: Person and Passport Number
```sql
Person(ID, Name, PassportID)
Passport(PassportID, IssueDate, ExpiryDate)
```

2. One-to-Many (1:N)
One record in Table A can match many records in Table B
Example: Department and Employees
```sql
Department(DeptID, DeptName)
Employee(EmpID, Name, DeptID)
```

3. Many-to-Many (M: N)
Multiple records in Table A can match multiple records in Table B
Example: Students and Courses
```sql
Student(StudentID, Name)
Course(CourseID, CourseName)
StudentCourse(StudentID, CourseID)
```

3. What are the different normalization forms? Explain with examples

In a database management system (DBMS), normalization is the process of organizing data
in a database to improve data integrity and reduce redundancy:

1. First Normal Form (1NF)

Each cell should contain a single value
Each record should be unique
Example:
Before 1NF:
```
Student(ID, Name, Subjects)
1, John, Math,Physics,Chemistry
```
After 1NF:
```
Student(ID, Name, Subject)
1, John, Math
1, John, Physics
1, John, Chemistry
```

2. Second Normal Form (2NF)

Should be in 1NF
No partial dependencies

3. Third Normal Form (3NF)

Should be in 2NF
No transitive dependencies

4. What is a primary key and foreign key? Explain with example

- Primary Key: Unique identifier for each record in a table

- Foreign Key: Field that links to primary key of another table

Example:
```sql

-- Primary Key

CREATE TABLE Department (

DeptID INT PRIMARY KEY,

DeptName VARCHAR(50)

);

-- Foreign Key

CREATE TABLE Employee (

EmpID INT PRIMARY KEY,

Name VARCHAR(50),

DeptID INT,

FOREIGN KEY (DeptID) REFERENCES Department(DeptID)

);

```

5. What are the different types of SQL commands?

1. DDL (Data Definition Language)

- CREATE, ALTER, DROP, TRUNCATE

```sql

CREATE TABLE Employee (ID INT, Name VARCHAR(50));

```

2. DML (Data Manipulation Language)

- INSERT, UPDATE, DELETE

```sql

INSERT INTO Employee VALUES (1, 'John');

```
3. DCL (Data Control Language)

- GRANT, REVOKE

```sql

GRANT SELECT ON Employee TO user1;

```

4. TCL (Transaction Control Language)

- COMMIT, ROLLBACK, SAVEPOINT

```sql

BEGIN TRANSACTION;

UPDATE Account SET balance = balance - 100;

COMMIT;

```

6. What is a transaction? Explain ACID properties

Answer: A transaction is a sequence of operations performed as a single logical unit of work.

ACID Properties:

1. Atomicity: All or nothing principle

2. Consistency: Database remains consistent before and after transaction

3. Isolation: Transactions are isolated from each other

4. Durability: Changes are permanent after commit

Example:

```sql

BEGIN TRANSACTION;

UPDATE Account SET balance = balance - 1000 WHERE ID = 1;

UPDATE Account SET balance = balance + 1000 WHERE ID = 2;

COMMIT;
7. What are joins in SQL? Explain different types with examples
Answer:

1. INNER JOIN

```sql

SELECT e.Name, d.DeptName

FROM Employee e

INNER JOIN Department d ON e.DeptID = d.DeptID;

```

2. LEFT JOIN

```sql

SELECT e.Name, d.DeptName

FROM Employee e

LEFT JOIN Department d ON e.DeptID = d.DeptID;

```

3. RIGHT JOIN

```sql

SELECT e.Name, d.DeptName

FROM Employee e

RIGHT JOIN Department d ON e.DeptID = d.DeptID;

```

4. FULL JOIN

```sql

SELECT e.Name, d.DeptName

FROM Employee e

FULL JOIN Department d ON e.DeptID = d.DeptID;

```
8. What is an index? What are its types?
Answer: An index is a data structure that improves the speed of data retrieval operations.

Types:

1. Single-Column Index

```sql

CREATE INDEX idx_name ON Employee(Name);

```

2. Composite Index

```sql

CREATE INDEX idx_name_dept ON Employee(Name, DeptID);

```

3. Unique Index

```sql

CREATE UNIQUE INDEX idx_email ON Employee(Email);

```

9. What is a view? How is it different from a table?

Answer: A view is a virtual table based on the result set of an SQL statement.

Example:

```sql

CREATE VIEW EmployeeDept AS

SELECT e.Name, d.DeptName

FROM Employee e

JOIN Department d ON e.DeptID = d.DeptID;

```
Differences:

- Views don't store data physically

- Views can provide data security

- Views can simplify complex queries

10. Explain the concept of triggers with an example

Answer: Triggers are special stored procedures that automatically execute when specific
events occur.

Example:

```sql

CREATE TRIGGER UpdateAudit

AFTER UPDATE ON Employee

FOR EACH ROW

BEGIN

INSERT INTO AuditLog(EmpID, Action, DateTime)

VALUES (NEW.ID, 'UPDATE', NOW());

END;

```

11. What is a stored procedure? How is it different from a function?

Answer: A stored procedure is a prepared SQL code that can be saved and reused.

Example:

```sql

CREATE PROCEDURE GetEmployeesByDept

@DeptID INT

AS

BEGIN

SELECT Name, Salary

FROM Employee
 WHERE DeptID = @DeptID;

END;

```

12. What is a deadlock? How can it be prevented?

Answer: A deadlock occurs when two or more transactions wait indefinitely for each other
to release locks.

Prevention:

```sql

-- Set transaction isolation level

SET TRANSACTION ISOLATION LEVEL READ COMMITTED;

-- Use timeout

SET LOCK_TIMEOUT 10000;

```

13. Explain the difference between DELETE, TRUNCATE, and DROP

Answer:

```sql

-- DELETE: DML command, can be rolled back

DELETE FROM Employee WHERE DeptID = 10;

-- TRUNCATE: DDL command, cannot be rolled back

TRUNCATE TABLE Employee;

-- DROP: DDL command, removes table structure

DROP TABLE Employee;

```
14. What are aggregate functions? Give examples
Answer: Aggregate functions perform calculations on a set of values.

Examples:

```sql

SELECT

COUNT(*) as TotalEmployees,

AVG(Salary) as AvgSalary,

MAX(Salary) as MaxSalary,

MIN(Salary) as MinSalary,

SUM(Salary) as TotalSalary

FROM Employee;

```

15. What is a subquery? Explain with example

Answer: A subquery is a query nested inside another query.

Example:

```sql

SELECT Name

FROM Employee

WHERE Salary > (

SELECT AVG(Salary)

FROM Employee

);

```

16. What are constraints in SQL?

Answer: SQL constraints are used to specify rules for data in a table.
```sql

CREATE TABLE Employee (

ID INT PRIMARY KEY,

Name VARCHAR(50) NOT NULL,

Age INT CHECK (Age >= 18),

Salary DECIMAL(10,2) DEFAULT 0,

Email VARCHAR(50) UNIQUE

);

```

17. Explain the GROUP BY and HAVING clauses

Answer:

```sql

SELECT DeptID, COUNT(*) as EmpCount, AVG(Salary) as AvgSalary

FROM Employee

GROUP BY DeptID

HAVING AVG(Salary) > 50000;

```

18. What is database partitioning?

Answer: Partitioning divides large tables into smaller, manageable parts.

Example:

```sql

CREATE TABLE Sales (

ID INT,

SaleDate DATE,

Amount DECIMAL

PARTITION BY RANGE (YEAR(SaleDate)) (

 PARTITION p0 VALUES LESS THAN (2022),

PARTITION p1 VALUES LESS THAN (2023),

PARTITION p2 VALUES LESS THAN MAXVALUE

);

```

19. What is the difference between UNION and UNION ALL?

Answer:

```sql

-- UNION removes duplicates

SELECT Name FROM Employee1

UNION

SELECT Name FROM Employee2;

-- UNION ALL keeps duplicates

SELECT Name FROM Employee1

UNION ALL

SELECT Name FROM Employee2;

```

20. Explain the concept of database backup and recovery

Answer:

Types of Backups:

1. Full Backup:

```sql

BACKUP DATABASE EmployeeDB

TO DISK = 'D:\Backups\EmployeeDB.bak';

```
2. Differential Backup:

```sql

BACKUP DATABASE EmployeeDB

TO DISK = 'D:\Backups\EmployeeDB_Diff.bak'

WITH DIFFERENTIAL;

```

Recovery:

```sql

RESTORE DATABASE EmployeeDB

FROM DISK = 'D:\Backups\EmployeeDB.bak';

```