Databricks Data Engineer Professional Question 24
Single answerA data engineering team wants to create an exact copy of their Delta Lake table for testing purposes without impacting the original table. They decide to use Delta clone functionality. Which of the following statements about Delta clone is correct?
- A
Delta clone can create a clone of a Delta table without duplicating the physical data.
- B
Delta clone requires the original Delta table to be in a different storage location from the clone.
- C
Delta clone only works with tables registered in the Hive Metastore.
- D
Delta clone supports both shallow and deep cloning to create copies of a Delta table.
Show answer and explanation
Correct answer: D
Explanation
Delta clone functionality allows users to create copies of Delta tables for various purposes such as testing or experimentation. It supports two modes: shallow clone, which references the original table's data without copying it, and deep clone, which creates a full physical copy of the data. This flexibility makes Delta clone a powerful tool for data engineering workflows.
- A. Incorrect.
Incorrect. While Delta clone can create a copy of a Delta table, this statement is misleading. Only shallow clones avoid duplicating the physical data, while deep clones do duplicate the data.
- B. Incorrect.
Incorrect. Delta clone does not require the original table and the clone to be in different storage locations. Cloning is independent of the storage location constraints.
- C. Incorrect.
Incorrect. Delta clone works with both managed and unmanaged tables, and it does not require tables to be registered in the Hive Metastore.
- D. Correct.
Correct. Delta clone supports two types of cloning: shallow clone (which references existing data) and deep clone (which copies both metadata and full data).