Top 50 Apache Hive Interview Questions with Answers

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What is Apache Hive?
A. A data warehouse infrastructure for querying and analyzing large datasets stored in Hadoop
B. A file system used to store data in Hadoop
C. An SQL database used to store data in Hadoop
D. A machine learning tool used to analyze data in Hadoop

Answer: A

What is the Hive Metastore?
A. A relational database that stores metadata for Hive tables
B. A file system used to store data in Hive
C. A distributed cache used to store Hive queries
D. A tool used to manage Hive data warehouses

Answer: A

What is HiveQL?
A. The SQL-like language used to query data in Hive
B. The programming language used to develop Hive applications
C. The tool used to manage Hive data warehouses
D. The machine learning tool used to analyze data in Hive

Answer: A

What is a Hive partition?
A. A way to divide a table into several smaller, more manageable parts based on a specific column value
B. A way to duplicate a table within Hive
C. A way to synchronize data between two Hive tables
D. A container for storing data in Hadoop

Answer: A

What is a Hive bucket?
A. A way to group and store data in Hadoop based on a specific column value
B. A way to duplicate a table within Hive
C. A way to synchronize data between two Hive tables
D. A container for storing data in Hive

Answer: A

What is the difference between a Hive internal table and an external table?
A. An internal table is managed by Hive, while an external table is managed by an external tool
B. An internal table is stored in a Hive database, while an external table is stored outside of Hive
C. An internal table cannot be modified by external tools, while an external table can be modified by external tools
D. An internal table is always in memory, while an external table is always on disk

Answer: B

What is a Hive UDF?
A. A user-defined function that can be used in HiveQL queries
B. A tool used to manage Hive data warehouses
C. A distributed cache used to store Hive queries
D. An SQL-like language used to query data in Hive

Answer: A

What is the difference between a Hive UDF and a Hive UDAF?
A. A Hive UDF is used to manipulate individual rows, while a Hive UDAF is used to manipulate groups of rows
B. A Hive UDF is used to implement user-defined functions, while a Hive UDAF is used to implement user-defined aggregations
C. A Hive UDF is used to execute queries on a Hive database, while a Hive UDAF is used to manage Hive data warehouses
D. A Hive UDF is used to optimize Hive queries, while a Hive UDAF is used to optimize Hadoop clusters

Answer: B

What is a Hive custom serializer?
A. A way to serialize and deserialize non-structured data in Hive
B. A way to serialize and deserialize structured data in Hive
C. A way to optimize queries in Hive
D. A way to manage data in Hive data warehouses

Answer: A

What is Hive on Spark?
A. An execution engine that allows Hive queries to run on Spark
B. A tool used to manage data in Hive data warehouses
C. A way to serialize and deserialize structured data in Hive
D. A way to optimize queries in Hive

Answer: A

What is the Hive LLAP architecture?
A. A low-latency execution engine that allows Hive queries to run faster
B. A distributed cache used to store Hive queries
C. A tool used to manage Hive data warehouses
D. A machine learning tool used to analyze data in Hive

Answer: A

What is Hive join optimization?
A. A way to optimize joins in Hive to improve query performance
B. A way to manage Hive data warehouses
C. A way to serialize and deserialize structured data in Hive
D. A tool used to execute queries on a Hive database

Answer: A

What is the purpose of the Hive transaction manager?
A. To manage transactions in Hive
B. To manage Hive data warehouses
C. To manage HiveQL queries
D. To manage Hadoop clusters

Answer: A

What is Hive authorization?
A. A way to control access to Hive tables and databases
B. A tool used to manage Hive data warehouses
C. A way to optimize queries in Hive
D. A distributed cache used to store Hive queries

Answer: A

What is a Hive metastore URI?
A. The location of the Hive metastore database
B. The location of the Hive query cache
C. The location of the Hive data warehouse
D. The location of the Hive UDF library

Answer: A

What is the difference between a Hive view and a Hive table?
A. A Hive view is a virtual table, while a Hive table is a physical table
B. A Hive view can be modified using SQL, while a Hive table cannot be modified using SQL
C. A Hive view is stored in a Hive database, while a Hive table is stored in a Hadoop cluster
D. A Hive view is a temporary table, while a Hive table is a permanent table

Answer: A

What is partitioning in Hive?
A. A way to divide a table into smaller parts based on a specific column value
B. A way to store data in Hive
C. A way to manage Hive data warehouses
D. A way to execute queries on a Hive database

Answer: A

What is the difference between a Hive bucket and a Hive partition?
A. A Hive bucket groups data based on a specific column value, while a Hive partition divides a table into smaller parts based on a specific column value
B. A Hive bucket and a Hive partition are the same thing
C. A Hive bucket and a Hive partition are both ways to store data in Hive
D. A Hive bucket and a Hive partition are both ways to manage Hive data warehouses

Answer: A

What is the difference between a Hive table and an HBase table?
A. A Hive table is a relational table, while an HBase table is a NoSQL table
B. A Hive table is stored in a Hadoop cluster, while an HBase table is stored in an HBase database
C. A Hive table can be accessed using SQL, while an HBase table can be accessed using HBase API
D. All of the above

Answer: D

What is the purpose of the Hive Thrift server?
A. To enable remote JDBC/ODBC connections to Hive
B. To execute queries on a Hive database
C. To optimize queries in Hive
D. To manage Hive data warehouses

Answer: A

What is a Hive accumulator?
A. A way to aggregate data in Hive
B. A way to store data in Hive
C. A tool used to manage Hive data warehouses
D. A distributed cache used to store Hive queries

Answer: A

What is the difference between a Hive subquery and a Hive join?
A. A Hive subquery is a SQL query embedded within another query, while a Hive join combines rows from two or more tables
B. A Hive subquery and a Hive join are the same thing
C. A Hive subquery is used to optimize queries, while a Hive join is used to manage data in Hive data warehouses
D. A Hive subquery is used to manage data in Hive data warehouses, while a Hive join is used to execute queries on a Hive database

Answer: A

What is a Hive expression?
A. A mathematical operation used in HiveQL queries
B. A way to extract data from Hive tables
C. A way to optimize queries in Hive
D. A tool used to manage data in Hive data warehouses

Answer: A

What is the Hive control command to drop a table?
A. DROP TABLE
B. REMOVE TABLE
C. DELETE TABLE
D. ERASE TABLE

Answer: A

What is the Hive control command to create a database?
A. CREATE DATABASE
B. ADD DATABASE
C. MAKE DATABASE
D. GENERATE DATABASE

Answer: A

What is the Hive control command to list all databases?
A. SHOW DATABASES;
B. LIST DATABASES;
C. SELECT DATABASES;
D. DISPLAY DATABASES;

Answer: A

What is the Hive control command to list all tables in a specific database?
A. SHOW TABLES FROM table_name;
B. LIST TABLES FROM database_name;
C. SELECT TABLES FROM database_name;
D. DISPLAY TABLES FROM database_name;

Answer: A

What is the Hive control command to create a view?
A. CREATE VIEW
B. ADD VIEW
C. MAKE VIEW
D. GENERATE VIEW

Answer: A

What is the Hive control command to import data into a Hive table?
A. LOAD DATA INPATH ” INTO TABLE table_name;
B. IMPORT DATA FROM ” TO TABLE table_name;
C. INSERT DATA INTO TABLE table_name FROM ”;
D. ADD DATA TO TABLE table_name FROM ”;

Answer: A

What is the Hive control command to export data from a Hive table?
A. INSERT OVERWRITE LOCAL DIRECTORY ” SELECT * FROM table_name;
B. EXPORT DATA TO ” FROM TABLE table_name;
C. EXPORT TABLE table_name TO ”;
D. COPY DATA FROM TABLE table_name TO ”;

Answer: A

What is the Hive control command to add a new column to a table?
A. ALTER TABLE table_name ADD COLUMNS(column_name data_type);
B. ADD COLUMN column_name data_type TO TABLE table_name;
C. INSERT COLUMN column_name data_type IN TABLE table_name;
D. APPEND COLUMN column_name data_type TO TABLE table_name;

Answer: A

What is the Hive control command to rename a table?
A. ALTER TABLE table_name RENAME TO new_table_name;
B. RENAME TABLE table_name TO new_table_name;
C. CHANGE TABLE table_name TO new_table_name;
D. MODIFY TABLE table_name NAME TO new_table_name;

Answer: A

What is the Hive control command to enable Bucketing for a table?
A. CLUSTERED BY(column_name) INTO num_buckets BUCKETS;
B. ENABLE BUCKETING table_name BY(column_name) INTO num_buckets BUCKETS;
C. CREATE BUCKETED TABLE table_name(column_name data_type) CLUSTERED BY(column_name) INTO num_buckets BUCKETS;
D. SET BUCKETING ON table_name(column_name) num_buckets;

Answer: C

What is the Hive control command to enable Sorting for a table?
A. SORT BY(column_name);
B. ENABLE SORTING table_name BY(column_name);
C. CREATE SORTED TABLE table_name(column_name data_type) SORT BY(column_name);
D. SET SORTING ON table_name(column_name);

Answer: C

What is the Hive control command to list all partitions for a table?
A. SHOW PARTITIONS table_name;
B. LIST PARTITIONS FOR table_name;
C. SELECT PARTITIONS FROM table_name;
D. DISPLAY PARTITIONS table_name;

Answer: A

What is the Hive control command to show the schema for a table?
A. DESC table_name;
B. SHOW SCHEMA FOR table_name;
C. LIST SCHEMA table_name;
D. SELECT SCHEMA FROM table_name;

Answer: A

What is the Hive control command to analyze a table?
A. ANALYZE TABLE table_name COMPUTE STATISTICS;
B. ANALYZE COMPUTE STATISTICS FOR table_name;
C. COMPUTE STATISTICS FOR table_name;
D. COMPUTE TABLE STATISTICS table_name;

Answer: A

What is the Hive control command to change the file format of a table?
A. ALTER TABLE table_name SET FILEFORMAT input_format output_format;
B. CHANGE FILE FORMAT OF table_name TO input_format output_format;
C. SET FILE FORMAT OF table_name input_format output_format;
D. MODIFY THE FILE FORMAT OF table_name TO input_format output_format;

Answer: A

What is the Hive control command to specify the delimiter in a CSV file?
A. ROW FORMAT DELIMITED FIELDS TERMINATED BY ‘,’ LINES TERMINATED BY ‘\n’;
B. LOAD DATA INPATH ” INTO TABLE table_name DELIMITED BY ‘,’;
C. CREATE TABLE table_name(column_name1 data_type1, column_name2 data_type2) ROW FORMAT DELIMITED FIELDS TERMINATED BY ‘,’ LINES TERMINATED BY ‘\n’;
D. SELECT * FROM table_name DELIMITED BY ‘,’;

Answer: A

What is the Hive control command to specify the character encoding of a file?
A. ROW FORMAT DELIMITED FIELDS TERMINATED BY ‘,’ LINES TERMINATED BY ‘\n’ STORED AS TEXTFILE CHARSET utf8;
B. LOAD DATA INPATH ” INTO TABLE table_name CHARSET utf8;
C. CREATE TABLE table_name(column_name1 data_type1, column_name2 data_type2) ROW FORMAT DELIMITED FIELDS TERMINATED BY ‘,’ LINES TERMINATED BY ‘\n’;
D. SELECT * FROM table_name CHARSET utf8;

Answer: A

What is the difference between an inner join and an outer join in Hive?
A. An inner join returns only the matching rows from both tables, while an outer join returns all rows from both tables, with non-matching rows filled with NULL values
B. An outer join returns only the matching rows from both tables, while an inner join returns all rows from both tables, with non-matching rows filled with NULL values
C. An inner join combines rows from two or more tables, while an outer join combines only matching rows from two or more tables
D. An outer join combines rows from two or more tables, while an inner join combines only matching rows from two or more tables

Answer: A

What is the difference between a left join and a right join in Hive?
A. A left join includes all rows from the left table, with matching rows from the right table, while a right join includes all rows from the right table, with matching rows from the left table
B. A left join includes only matching rows from both tables, while a right join includes all rows from both tables, with non-matching rows filled with NULL values
C. A left join includes only matching rows from both tables, while a right join includes all rows from both tables, with non-matching rows filled with NULL values
D. A left join includes all rows from both tables, with non-matching rows filled with NULL values, while a right join includes only matching rows from both tables

Answer: A

What is the difference between a full outer join and a cross join in Hive?
A. A full outer join includes all rows from both tables, with non-matching rows filled with NULL values, while a cross join combines the Cartesian product of both tables
B. A full outer join combines only matching rows from both tables, while a cross join includes all rows from both tables, with non-matching rows filled with NULL values
C. A full outer join combines only matching rows from both tables, while a cross join combines the Cartesian product of both tables
D. A full outer join includes all rows from both tables, with matching rows included only once, while a cross join includes all rows from both tables, with all possible combinations included

Answer: A

What is the difference between a map-side join and a reduce-side join in Hive?
A. A map-side join is faster than a reduce-side join, as it combines data before the map phase, while a reduce-side join combines data after the map phase
B. A map-side join combines data before the map phase, while a reduce-side join combines data after the reduce phase
C. A map-side join combines data before the reduce phase, while a reduce-side join combines data after the reduce phase
D. A map-side join is slower than a reduce-side join, as it combines data after the reduce phase, while a reduce-side join combines data after the map phase

Answer: A

What is an index in Hive?
A. A way to optimize queries by creating a small table of precomputed values
B. A way to sort data within a Hive table
C. A way to divide a table into smaller parts based on a specific column value
D. A way to group data based on a specific column value

Answer: A

What is a Hive database?
A. A container for storing related tables in Hive
B. A way to store data in Hive
C. A tool used to execute queries on a Hive database
D. All of the above

Answer: A

What is the purpose of the Hive CLI?
A. To execute queries on a Hive database
B. To manage data in Hive data warehouses
C. To optimize queries in Hive
D. To access Hive data through a command-line interface

Answer: D

What is the purpose of the Hive performance tuning process?
A. To optimize Hive queries and improve query performance
B. To manage data in Hive data warehouses
C. To optimize Hadoop clusters
D. To access Hive data through a command-line interface

Answer: A

What is the difference between Hive and Impala?
A. Hive is a data warehousing infrastructure, while Impala is a SQL query engine that runs directly on Hadoop
B. Hive is a SQL query engine that runs directly on Hadoop, while Impala is a data warehousing infrastructure
C. Hive is designed for batch processing, while Impala is designed for real-time processing
D. Hive is an open-source tool, while Impala is a closed-source tool

Answer: A

What is the difference between Hive and Pig?
A. Hive is a SQL-like language used to query data in Hadoop, while Pig is a high-level scripting language used to process data in Hadoop
B. Hive is a high-level scripting language used to process data in Hadoop, while Pig is a SQL-like language used to query data in Hadoop
C. Hive is designed for batch processing, while Pig is designed for real-time processing
D. Hive is an open-source tool, while Pig is a closed-source tool

Answer: A

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Ashwani Kumar

Sr. Software Engineer at Cotocus Private Limited

There is no end to education. It is not that you read a book, pass an examination, and finish with education. The whole of life, from the moment you are born to the moment you die, is a process of learning.