Orbit Techsol SQL Server Database Administrator Interview Questions and Answers

Types of joins in SQL are Inner Join, Left Join, Right Join, and Full Join.

• Inner Join: Returns rows when there is a match in both tables.

• Left Join: Returns all rows from the left table and the matched rows from the right table.

• Right Join: Returns all rows from the right table and the matched rows from the left table.

• Full Join: Returns rows when there is a match in one of the tables.

GROUP BY is used to group rows that have the same values into summary rows, while HAVING is used to filter groups based on a specified condition.

• GROUP BY is used with aggregate functions to group the result set by one or more columns.

• HAVING is used to filter groups based on a specified condition after the GROUP BY clause.

• GROUP BY is used before the HAVING clause in a query.

• Example: SELECT department, COUNT(*) FROM empl

DML commands are Data Manipulation Language commands used to manage data in a database.

• DML commands include INSERT, UPDATE, DELETE, and SELECT.

• INSERT is used to add new rows of data into a table.

• UPDATE is used to modify existing data in a table.

• DELETE is used to remove rows of data from a table.

• SELECT is used to retrieve data from a database.

Primary key uniquely identifies each record in a table, while Unique key allows only one instance of a value in a column.

• Primary key does not allow NULL values, while Unique key allows one NULL value.

• Primary key automatically creates a clustered index, while Unique key creates a non-clustered index by default.

• Primary key can be referenced by foreign keys, while Unique key cannot be referenced by foreign keys.

Indexes are data structures that improve the speed of data retrieval operations in a database.

• Indexes are used to quickly locate data without having to search every row in a database table.

• Types of indexes include clustered, non-clustered, unique, and composite indexes.

• Clustered indexes determine the physical order of data in a table, while non-clustered indexes store a separate copy of the indexed columns.

• Unique index...read more

Execution plan is a roadmap that SQL Server uses to execute a query, showing the steps taken to retrieve data.

• Execution plan is generated by the query optimizer to determine the most efficient way to execute a query.

• It shows the order in which tables are accessed, joins are performed, and filters are applied.

• Execution plan can be viewed using tools like SQL Server Management Studio or by using the EXPLAIN statement in

SQL query to retrieve the maximum salary for each department

• Use the MAX() function to find the maximum salary

• Group the results by department using the GROUP BY clause

• Join the employee table with the department table to get the department information

Different types of SQL joins with given data sets a and b.

• Inner join: Returns rows where there is a match in both tables (1,1)

• Left join: Returns all rows from the left table and the matched rows from the right table (1,1,1,2,2)

• Right join: Returns all rows from the right table and the matched rows from the left table (1,1,2,4)

• Cross join: Returns the Cartesian product of the two tables (1,1,1,1,1,2,1,4,1,1,2,1,2,2,1,4,2,...read more

row_number, rank, dense_rank are window functions in SQL used to assign a unique number to each row based on specified criteria.

• row_number() assigns a unique sequential integer starting from 1 to each row in the result set

• rank() assigns a unique rank to each row based on the specified ordering criteria, with gaps in ranking for ties

• dense_rank() assigns a unique rank to each row based on the specified ordering criteria,

A trigger is a special type of stored procedure that automatically executes when certain events occur in a database.

• Triggers can be used to enforce business rules, maintain referential integrity, and automate repetitive tasks.

• Examples of trigger events include INSERT, UPDATE, and DELETE operations on a table.

• Triggers can be defined to execute before or after the triggering event.

Functions return a value, while stored procedures do not. Functions can be used in SELECT statements, stored procedures cannot.

• Functions return a single value, while stored procedures can return multiple values or none at all.

• Functions can be used in SELECT statements to return a value, while stored procedures cannot be used in this way.

• Functions can be called from within stored procedures, but stored procedures cannot