SQL (15 Questions)

1. Explain different types of JOINs and when to use each.

o INNER JOIN: Returns records with matching values in both tables. Use when you need only
common records.

o LEFT JOIN: Returns all records from the left table and matched records from the right. Use when
you want all records from the left.

o RIGHT JOIN: Opposite of LEFT JOIN.

o FULL OUTER JOIN: Returns all records when there's a match in either table.

o CROSS JOIN: Returns Cartesian product. Use carefully.

2. What is the difference between WHERE and HAVING clauses?

o WHERE filters rows before aggregation; HAVING filters after aggregation.

3. How would you find the second highest salary from an Employee table?

SELECT MAX(salary) FROM employees WHERE salary < (SELECT MAX(salary) FROM employees);

4. What are Window Functions? Give practical examples.

o Used to perform calculations across rows related to the current row. Example: RANK() OVER
(PARTITION BY dept ORDER BY salary DESC)

5. How do you optimize slow-running SQL queries?

o Use indexes, avoid SELECT *, limit subqueries, use EXPLAIN PLAN, and check joins and filters.

6. What’s the use of CTEs over subqueries?

o CTEs improve readability, can be recursive, and can be reused within the same query.

7. How can you detect duplicate records in a large dataset?

SELECT col1, COUNT(*) FROM table GROUP BY col1 HAVING COUNT(*) > 1;

8. How do you handle NULLs in SQL joins and aggregations?

o Use IS NULL, COALESCE(), or IFNULL() to manage null values.

9. Explain RANK(), DENSE_RANK(), and ROW_NUMBER().

o ROW_NUMBER() gives unique rank.

o RANK() skips ranking after ties.

o DENSE_RANK() doesn’t skip ranks after ties.

10. What is normalization? What are 1NF, 2NF, and 3NF?

• Normalization organizes data to reduce redundancy.

• 1NF: Atomic columns.

• 2NF: No partial dependency.

• 3NF: No transitive dependency.

• SELECT date, AVG(sales) OVER (ORDER BY date ROWS BETWEEN 6 PRECEDING AND CURRENT ROW)
FROM sales_data;

12. Explain ACID properties in databases.

• Atomicity, Consistency, Isolation, Durability — ensure reliable transactions.

13. How do you track changes in a table?

• Use triggers, audit tables, or change tracking/versioning columns (created_at, updated_at).

14. Difference between clustered and non-clustered index?

• Clustered sorts table data physically. One per table.

• Non-clustered creates a separate index structure.

15. How would you detect and analyze outliers in transactional data?

• Use statistical functions like AVG, STDDEV, or create IQR filters using subqueries.
 Python (12 Questions)
1. How do you handle large datasets in Python?

o Use Dask, PySpark, chunking in pandas.read_csv(), or optimized data types.

2. Difference between apply(), map(), and applymap()?

o map(): Series only.

o apply(): Series/DataFrame.

o applymap(): Element-wise function across DataFrame.

3. Connect to SQL database and run a query?

import pandas as pd

import sqlalchemy

engine = sqlalchemy.create_engine('db_string')

df = pd.read_sql('SELECT * FROM table', engine)

4. Strategies for data cleaning?

o Drop/Impute nulls, fix data types, remove duplicates, outlier detection, encoding.

5. Detect and treat missing values?

o Use df.isnull().sum(), fillna(), dropna(), or imputation strategies.

6. Role of NumPy?

o Efficient array operations, broadcasting, and base for pandas.

7. Handle categorical variables?

o Use pd.get_dummies(), LabelEncoder, OneHotEncoder.

8. loc[] vs iloc[]?

o loc[] for label-based access, iloc[] for index-based.

9. Automate data cleaning pipeline?

o Define functions → use apply() or pipeline() → automate with Airflow or Luigi.

10. Calculate correlation function?

• def calc_corr(df):

return df.corr()

11. Parse nested JSON file?

• Use json module and pd.json_normalize().

12. Write unit tests for pipelines?

• Use unittest, pytest, and mock I/O or small test data sets.
 Excel (13 Questions)
1. Use Pivot Tables?

o Summarize, filter, and analyze data interactively with rows, columns, and values.

2. VLOOKUP vs INDEX-MATCH?

o INDEX-MATCH is more flexible and faster with large datasets.

3. Dynamic Named Ranges?

o Use OFFSET() + COUNTA() in Name Manager.

4. Automate reports with VBA?

o Write macros to update filters, charts, pivot tables on click.

5. Use of INDIRECT()?

o Refers to a cell by text/string reference.

6. Create dashboards?

o Combine PivotCharts, slicers, KPIs, and conditional formatting.

7. Array Formulas?

o Perform multi-cell calculations like {=SUM(A1:A5*B1:B5)}.

8. Clean data in Excel?

o Use TRIM(), CLEAN(), TEXT TO COLUMNS, and Remove Duplicates.

9. SUMIFS vs SUMPRODUCT?

o SUMIFS: conditional summing. SUMPRODUCT: flexible, array-based math.

10. Sales trend analysis?

• Use pivot tables, slicers, trendlines, and moving average charts.

11. Outlier detection?

• Use Z-Score, conditional formatting, box plots.

12. Performance comparison YoY?

• Create YoY % change = (Current - Last Year)/Last Year in pivot.

13. Live data feeds?

• Use Data > Get External Data > From Web/SQL Server/API.
 Power BI (10 Questions)
1. Calculated columns vs measures?

o Columns calculate row-by-row; Measures calculate on aggregates (context-dependent).

2. Optimize performance?

o Use star schema, reduce columns, optimize DAX, disable auto date/time.

3. Relationships & many-to-many?

o Use bridge tables or composite models to handle many-to-many joins.

4. Slicers and filters?

o Use slicers for visual interaction, filters for scoped control.

5. Power BI Desktop vs Service?

o Desktop for report creation, Service for sharing/collaboration.

6. Row-level security?

o Define roles in Modeling tab and assign DAX filters to limit data access.

7. KPI dashboard creation?

o Use card visuals, conditional formatting, KPI visuals, and alerts.

8. Time intelligence calculations?

o Use DAX like TOTALYTD(), SAMEPERIODLASTYEAR().

9. Power Query usage?

o Used for ETL steps like cleaning, merging, transforming datasets before modeling.

10. Version control and collaboration?

o Use Power BI Service with workspaces, or Git with .pbix files for versioning.