Databricks Certified Data Engineer - Associate

Explanation

CREATE STREAMING LIVE TABLE (formerly CREATE INCREMENTAL LIVE TABLE) is specifically designed for incremental data processing scenarios in Delta Live Tables (DLT). Here's why option B is correct:

Key Differences:

1. CREATE LIVE TABLE: Used for batch processing where the entire table is recomputed each time the pipeline runs.
2. CREATE STREAMING LIVE TABLE: Used for incremental processing where only new or changed data is processed, making it more efficient for streaming or change data capture (CDC) scenarios.

When to Use CREATE STREAMING LIVE TABLE:

• Incremental data loading: When you have streaming data sources (Kafka, Kinesis, etc.)
• Change Data Capture (CDC): When tracking changes from source systems
• Append-only scenarios: When new data arrives continuously
• Efficient processing: To avoid reprocessing entire datasets

Why Other Options Are Incorrect:

• Option A: Incorrect - The subsequent step being static doesn't determine whether to use streaming tables.
• Option C: Incorrect - Complicated aggregations can be done with both table types; this isn't the determining factor.
• Option D: Incorrect - The previous step being static doesn't determine whether to use streaming tables.

Best Practice:

Use CREATE STREAMING LIVE TABLE when you need to process data incrementally for better performance and resource efficiency, especially with high-volume, continuously arriving data.