1. What are the key differences between relational and non-relational databases?
2. Explain the concept of data normalization and its normal forms.
3. What is denormalization, and when would you use it?
4. Describe the process of creating a database schema.
5. What is the purpose of using indexes, and how do they affect performance?
6. Explain the differences between clustered and non-clustered indexes.
7. What are the various types of joins in SQL, and how do they differ?
8. Describe the concept of a stored procedure and its advantages.
9. What are triggers, and how do they differ from stored procedures?
10. Explain the use of transactions in databases and the importance of ACID properties.
11. What are the different transaction isolation levels in SQL?
12. Describe the impact of isolation levels on concurrency.
13. What is a data warehouse, and how is it different from a traditional database?
14. Explain the concept of ETL (Extract, Transform, Load) in data warehousing.
15. What are the advantages of using a star schema in a data warehouse?
16. Describe the differences between OLTP and OLAP systems.
17. What is data modeling, and what are its main components?
18. Explain the concept of an entity-relationship (ER) model.
19. What is the purpose of data integrity constraints?
20. Describe the role of referential integrity in a relational database.
21. What is the importance of primary and foreign keys in database design?
22. Explain the different types of data anomalies in databases.
23. What is the significance of the SQL GROUP BY clause?
24. How do aggregate functions work in SQL?
25. What are the differences between the SQL UNION and UNION ALL operators?
26. Explain the concept of a view in SQL and its use cases.
27. What is the purpose of materialized views, and how do they differ from regular views?
28. Describe the concept of partitioning in databases and its benefits.
29. What is sharding, and how does it help in scaling databases?
30. Explain the concept of a distributed database system.
31. What are the challenges associated with distributed database management?
32. Describe the CAP theorem and its implications for database design.
33. What are the differences between synchronous and asynchronous replication?
34. Explain the role of middleware in database systems.
35. What is the importance of database monitoring and performance tuning?
36. Describe the impact of hardware and software configurations on database performance.
37. What is query optimization, and how can it be achieved?
38. Explain the use of execution plans in query optimization.
39. What are the advantages of using a NoSQL database over a relational database?
40. Describe the differences between document-oriented and key-value NoSQL databases.