Databricks Certified Data Engineer - Associate

Explanation

Correct Answer: B - CREATE STREAMING LIVE TABLE should be used when data needs to be processed incrementally.

Why this is correct:

1. CREATE STREAMING LIVE TABLE (formerly CREATE INCREMENTAL LIVE TABLE) is specifically designed for incremental data processing in Delta Live Tables (DLT).
2. This syntax enables streaming or incremental processing where only new or changed data is processed, rather than reprocessing the entire dataset each time.
3. It's particularly useful for scenarios where you have continuous data ingestion and want to process only the delta changes.

Why other options are incorrect:

• A: Incorrect - The subsequent step being static doesn't determine whether to use streaming tables. Streaming tables can feed into both static and streaming downstream tables.
• C: Incorrect - CREATE STREAMING LIVE TABLE is not redundant; it serves a specific purpose for incremental processing that CREATE LIVE TABLE doesn't provide.
• D: Incorrect - While streaming tables can handle aggregations, the primary distinction is about incremental vs full processing, not complexity of operations.
• E: Incorrect - The previous step being static doesn't determine whether to use streaming tables; it's about how the current table should process data.

Key Concept: In Delta Live Tables, use CREATE STREAMING LIVE TABLE when you want to process data incrementally (streaming processing), and use CREATE LIVE TABLE when you need to process the entire dataset each time (batch processing).