Free Cloudera Data Engineer Practice Questions

Sample Practice Questions

Try these 10 sample questions from the Cloudera Data Engineer practice bank. Each includes the answer and explanation. Continue with the interactive practice above to review the full question set.

1. 1In Spark 3.5.7 on Kubernetes, which component creates the executor pods for an application?

   1. A.The Spark driverCorrect answer: A
   2. B.The submission client
   3. C.The Kubernetes service account
   4. D.The Spark history server

   Explanation: "The driver creates executors which are also running within Kubernetes pods and connects to them, and executes application code." The driver creates and connects to the executors; the other components do not perform that role.

   Reference: Running Spark on Kubernetes - Spark 3.5.7 Documentation — How it works

2. 2A daily Airflow 2.10 DAG uses its scheduled data interval to select an incremental source extract. What does the run's logical date represent?

   1. A.The start of the data intervalCorrect answer: A
   2. B.The end of the data interval
   3. C.The actual task execution start time
   4. D.The actual task execution finish time

   Explanation: Airflow states: "The “logical date” (also called execution_date in Airflow versions prior to 2.2) of a DAG run, for example, denotes the start of the data interval, not when the DAG is actually executed." The actual extraction may start after the interval ends.

   Reference: DAG Runs — Data Interval

3. 3An engineer wants Spark to record events so the application UI can be reconstructed after the job ends. Which setting should be enabled before the application starts?

   1. A.spark.eventLog.enabled=trueCorrect answer: A
   2. B.spark.eventLog.enabled=false
   3. C.spark.history.fs.cleaner.enabled=true
   4. D.spark.history.kerberos.enabled=true

   Explanation: The guide says: "To view the web UI after the fact, set spark.eventLog.enabled to true before starting the application." The history-server cleaner and Kerberos settings do not enable application event logging.

   Reference: Monitoring and Instrumentation — Web Interfaces

4. 4Which CDE Jobs API endpoint creates a new job definition relative to the virtual cluster's Jobs API URL?

   1. A./jobsCorrect answer: A
   2. B./jobs/{name}/run
   3. C./job-runs/{id}
   4. D./resources/{name}

   Explanation: Cloudera says: "Submit the job creation request using the API to the /jobs endpoint." The API reference identifies the other endpoints as running a job, describing a job run, and describing a resource.

   Reference: Creating a Cloudera Data Engineering job using the API — Job creation procedure

5. 5What happens to existing data files when an Iceberg schema update is performed?

   1. A.The update changes metadata without requiring file rewrites.Correct answer: A
   2. B.All data files must be rewritten before the update can commit.
   3. C.Existing files are automatically deleted after the update.
   4. D.Existing files are copied into a new table before the update.

   Explanation: The Iceberg guide states: "Iceberg schema updates are metadata changes, so no data files need to be rewritten to perform the update." The update does not require the destructive or migration steps in the other choices.

   Reference: Evolution — Schema evolution

6. 6In Spark 3.5.7 Kubernetes cluster mode, how do the driver and executor pods normally differ after the application completes?

   1. A.The driver remains completed for logs; executor pods terminate and are cleaned up.Correct answer: A
   2. B.The driver and executor pods both remain running to preserve their logs.
   3. C.The driver is immediately removed while executor pods remain completed.
   4. D.The driver and executor pods are all immediately removed on completion.

   Explanation: The guide states: "When the application completes, the executor pods terminate and are cleaned up, but the driver pod persists logs and remains in “completed” state in the Kubernetes API until it’s eventually garbage collected or manually cleaned up." The driver persists in completed state for logs, while executors are cleaned up.

   Reference: Running Spark on Kubernetes - Spark 3.5.7 Documentation — How it works

7. 7A daily Airflow extraction handles one complete data interval per run. When is the run usually scheduled relative to that interval?

   1. A.After the interval endsCorrect answer: A
   2. B.At the interval's start
   3. C.Halfway through the interval
   4. D.Before the interval begins

   Explanation: The guide says: "A DAG run is usually scheduled after its associated data interval has ended," so it can collect the period’s data. Its logical date does not mean it starts at the interval boundary.

   Reference: DAG Runs — Data Interval

8. 8Which Spark interface reconstructs an application UI from its existing event logs after execution?

   1. A.Spark History ServerCorrect answer: A
   2. B.Spark SQL Thrift Server
   3. C.Spark driver RPC endpoint
   4. D.Spark shuffle service

   Explanation: The guide states: "It is still possible to construct the UI of an application through Spark’s history server," provided the application event logs exist. The other components have different roles.

   Reference: Monitoring and Instrumentation — Viewing After the Fact

9. 9Which CDE API request directly retrieves the configuration of a single job identified by name?

   1. A.GET /jobs/{name}Correct answer: A
   2. B.GET /job-runs/{id}
   3. C.GET /resources/{name}
   4. D.POST /jobs/{name}/run

   Explanation: Cloudera states: "You can get Cloudera Data Engineering job information using the API by issuing a GET request to the /jobs/<job_name> endpoint." The other endpoints describe a job run, a resource, or start a job run.

   Reference: Getting Cloudera Data Engineering job information using the API — Getting job information

10. 10How does Iceberg track columns to preserve correct associations through schema evolution?

    1. A.With a unique ID for each columnCorrect answer: A
    2. B.Only by the current column position
    3. C.Only by the current column name
    4. D.With one shared ID for all columns

    Explanation: The guide says: "Iceberg uses unique IDs to track each column in a table. When you add a column, it is assigned a new ID so existing data is never used by mistake." Name-only, position-only, and shared-ID tracking do not provide this behavior.

    Reference: Evolution — Schema evolution — Correctness