Databricks Certified Data Engineer - Associate

Explanation

Correct Answer: A (View)

Why View is the correct choice:

1. No physical data storage: A view is a virtual table that does not store data physically. It's essentially a saved SQL query that gets executed when the view is referenced. This aligns perfectly with the requirement to "avoid copying and storing physical data" to save on storage costs.

2. Persistent across sessions: Unlike temporary views, regular views are persistent and can be accessed by other data engineers in other sessions. The requirement states "must be used by other data engineers in other sessions."

3. Relational object: A view is indeed a relational object that can pull data from multiple tables (in this case, two tables).

Why other options are incorrect:

• B. Temporary view: Temporary views are session-scoped and cannot be accessed by other data engineers in other sessions. They disappear when the session ends.

• C. Delta Table: Delta tables store physical data on storage, which would incur storage costs. This contradicts the requirement to avoid copying and storing physical data.

• D. Database: A database is a container for tables and other objects, not a relational object that pulls data from tables. It doesn't meet the requirement of creating a relational object from two tables.

• E. Spark SQL Table: This would create a physical table that stores data, which would incur storage costs and copy data.

Key Concepts:

• Views provide a logical abstraction layer without duplicating data
• Temporary views are session-specific and not persistent
• Physical tables (Delta Tables, Spark SQL Tables) store data and incur storage costs
• Databases are organizational containers, not data retrieval objects

This solution allows the data engineer to create a reusable, persistent relational object that other team members can access without duplicating storage costs.