Ingestion & CDC interview questions

69 real Ingestion & CDC questions from the Data Engineering bank, as asked in Indian campus drives and tech interviews. Every question has a verified answer and an AI-tutor explanation on placd — free to start.

1. What is trigger-based CDC?

Mid
  1. A.A change event representing a delete, often a key with a null value in Kafka, signaling downstream systems to remove the corresponding row.
  2. B.A reusable integration component that extracts from a specific source or loads to a destination, the building block of managed ELT platforms.
  3. C.A side channel where records that repeatedly fail processing are diverted so the main pipeline keeps flowing and bad data can be inspected later.
  4. D.A CDC approach that uses database triggers to write changes to shadow tables, capturing every change but adding write overhead on the source.
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2. Which term means: "A CDC approach that uses database triggers to write changes to shadow tables, capturing every change but adding write overhead on the source."?

Mid
  1. A.tombstone record
  2. B.trigger-based CDC
  3. C.exactly-once delivery
  4. D.Fivetran
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3. Which statement is correct?

Mid
  1. A.trigger-based CDC — A CDC approach that polls rows whose updated_at is newer than the last run; simple but can miss hard deletes and out-of-order updates.
  2. B.trigger-based CDC — A connector mode that fetches only records changed since the last sync using a cursor field, minimizing data transfer.
  3. C.trigger-based CDC — A CDC approach that uses database triggers to write changes to shadow tables, capturing every change but adding write overhead on the source.
  4. D.trigger-based CDC — A Debezium snapshot setting that reads the full current state of tables once before streaming ongoing log changes, giving a complete starting baseline.
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4. What is timestamp-based CDC?

Mid
  1. A.An open-source and cloud ELT platform with a large connector catalog and a CDK for building custom source and destination connectors.
  2. B.A CDC approach that polls rows whose updated_at is newer than the last run; simple but can miss hard deletes and out-of-order updates.
  3. C.Automatically detecting and propagating source schema changes (new or altered columns) into the destination without breaking the pipeline.
  4. D.A Debezium snapshot setting that reads the full current state of tables once before streaming ongoing log changes, giving a complete starting baseline.
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5. Which term means: "A CDC approach that polls rows whose updated_at is newer than the last run; simple but can miss hard deletes and out-of-order updates."?

Mid
  1. A.dead-letter queue
  2. B.Debezium
  3. C.incremental sync
  4. D.timestamp-based CDC
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6. Which statement is correct?

Mid
  1. A.timestamp-based CDC — A CDC approach that polls rows whose updated_at is newer than the last run; simple but can miss hard deletes and out-of-order updates.
  2. B.timestamp-based CDC — An initial bulk snapshot of a table followed by continuous log-based change streaming, the standard pattern Debezium uses to bootstrap then keep current.
  3. C.timestamp-based CDC — A guarantee that each event affects the destination exactly once despite retries, achieved via idempotent writes or transactional offset commits.
  4. D.timestamp-based CDC — A CDC approach that uses database triggers to write changes to shadow tables, capturing every change but adding write overhead on the source.
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7. What is Debezium?

Mid
  1. A.A Kafka message with a non-null key and null value that signals deletion of that key, used by compacted topics and CDC delete events.
  2. B.An initial bulk snapshot of a table followed by continuous log-based change streaming, the standard pattern Debezium uses to bootstrap then keep current.
  3. C.A Debezium snapshot setting that reads the full current state of tables once before streaming ongoing log changes, giving a complete starting baseline.
  4. D.An open-source CDC platform that reads database transaction logs and streams row-level change events, commonly through Kafka Connect.
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8. Which term means: "An open-source CDC platform that reads database transaction logs and streams row-level change events, commonly through Kafka Connect."?

Mid
  1. A.Snowpipe Streaming
  2. B.incremental snapshot
  3. C.Debezium
  4. D.schema registry
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9. Which statement is correct?

Mid
  1. A.Debezium — An open-source CDC platform that reads database transaction logs and streams row-level change events, commonly through Kafka Connect.
  2. B.Debezium — An initial bulk snapshot of a table followed by continuous log-based change streaming, the standard pattern Debezium uses to bootstrap then keep current.
  3. C.Debezium — A guarantee that each event affects the destination exactly once despite retries, achieved via idempotent writes or transactional offset commits.
  4. D.Debezium — A connector mode that fetches only records changed since the last sync using a cursor field, minimizing data transfer.
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10. What is Kafka Connect?

Mid
  1. A.Automatically detecting and propagating source schema changes (new or altered columns) into the destination without breaking the pipeline.
  2. B.A framework of reusable source and sink connectors that move data between Kafka and external systems without custom producer or consumer code.
  3. C.A framework of reusable source and sink connectors for streaming data in and out of Kafka without writing custom producer or consumer code.
  4. D.A monotonically increasing position in a database transaction log (LSN) used by log-based CDC to resume exactly where it left off.
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11. Which term means: "A framework of reusable source and sink connectors for streaming data in and out of Kafka without writing custom producer or consumer code."?

Mid
  1. A.timestamp-based CDC
  2. B.Snowpipe Streaming
  3. C.trigger-based CDC
  4. D.Kafka Connect
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12. Which statement is correct?

Mid
  1. A.Kafka Connect — A CDC approach that polls rows whose updated_at is newer than the last run; simple but can miss hard deletes and out-of-order updates.
  2. B.Kafka Connect — A change event representing a delete, often a key with a null value in Kafka, signaling downstream systems to remove the corresponding row.
  3. C.Kafka Connect — Snowflake's rowset streaming ingestion that writes rows directly into tables with low latency, avoiding the file-staging step of classic Snowpipe.
  4. D.Kafka Connect — A framework of reusable source and sink connectors for streaming data in and out of Kafka without writing custom producer or consumer code.
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13. What is Fivetran?

Junior
  1. A.A managed ELT connector service that automates extraction and loading from SaaS and database sources into a warehouse with schema handling.
  2. B.A change event representing a delete, often a key with a null value in Kafka, signaling downstream systems to remove the corresponding row.
  3. C.A Kafka message with a non-null key and null value that signals deletion of that key, used by compacted topics and CDC delete events.
  4. D.A Debezium snapshot setting that reads the full current state of tables once before streaming ongoing log changes, giving a complete starting baseline.
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14. Which term means: "A managed ELT connector service that automates extraction and loading from SaaS and database sources into a warehouse with schema handling."?

Junior
  1. A.Debezium
  2. B.trigger-based CDC
  3. C.schema registry
  4. D.Fivetran
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15. Which statement is correct?

Junior
  1. A.Fivetran — An open-source and cloud ELT platform with a large connector catalog and a CDK for building custom source and destination connectors.
  2. B.Fivetran — A connector mode that fetches only records changed since the last sync using a cursor field, minimizing data transfer.
  3. C.Fivetran — Snowflake's rowset streaming ingestion that writes rows directly into tables with low latency, avoiding the file-staging step of classic Snowpipe.
  4. D.Fivetran — A managed ELT connector service that automates extraction and loading from SaaS and database sources into a warehouse with schema handling.
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16. What is Airbyte?

Junior
  1. A.An open-source CDC platform that reads database transaction logs and emits row-level change events to Kafka.
  2. B.A sink that can process the same record more than once without changing the result, typically by upserting on a key, enabling safe retries.
  3. C.A managed ELT connector service that automates extraction and loading from SaaS and database sources into a warehouse with schema handling.
  4. D.An open-source and cloud ELT platform with a large connector catalog and a CDK for building custom source and destination connectors.
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17. Which term means: "An open-source and cloud ELT platform with a large connector catalog and a CDK for building custom source and destination connectors."?

Junior
  1. A.timestamp-based CDC
  2. B.Kafka Connect
  3. C.Airbyte
  4. D.Snowpipe Streaming
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18. Which statement is correct?

Junior
  1. A.Airbyte — A Debezium technique that chunks a table snapshot and interleaves it with live change streaming, avoiding long locks and allowing resumption.
  2. B.Airbyte — An open-source and cloud ELT platform with a large connector catalog and a CDK for building custom source and destination connectors.
  3. C.Airbyte — A guarantee that each source change is reflected exactly once downstream despite retries, typically achieved with idempotent writes and offset tracking.
  4. D.Airbyte — An initial bulk snapshot of a table followed by continuous log-based change streaming, the standard pattern Debezium uses to bootstrap then keep current.
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19. What is snapshot plus streaming CDC?

Senior
  1. A.An open-source CDC platform that reads database transaction logs and streams row-level change events, commonly through Kafka Connect.
  2. B.A framework of reusable source and sink connectors that move data between Kafka and external systems without custom producer or consumer code.
  3. C.A Debezium technique that chunks a table snapshot and interleaves it with live change streaming, avoiding long locks and allowing resumption.
  4. D.An initial bulk snapshot of a table followed by continuous log-based change streaming, the standard pattern Debezium uses to bootstrap then keep current.
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20. Which term means: "An initial bulk snapshot of a table followed by continuous log-based change streaming, the standard pattern Debezium uses to bootstrap then keep current."?

Senior
  1. A.snapshot plus streaming CDC
  2. B.schema registry
  3. C.log sequence number
  4. D.incremental snapshot
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21. Which statement is correct?

Senior
  1. A.snapshot plus streaming CDC — A CDC approach that polls rows whose updated_at is newer than the last run; simple but can miss hard deletes and out-of-order updates.
  2. B.snapshot plus streaming CDC — An initial bulk snapshot of a table followed by continuous log-based change streaming, the standard pattern Debezium uses to bootstrap then keep current.
  3. C.snapshot plus streaming CDC — Snowflake's rowset streaming ingestion that writes rows directly into tables with low latency, avoiding the file-staging step of classic Snowpipe.
  4. D.snapshot plus streaming CDC — A guarantee that each event affects the destination exactly once despite retries, achieved via idempotent writes or transactional offset commits.
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22. What is tombstone record?

Mid
  1. A.A change event representing a delete, often a key with a null value in Kafka, signaling downstream systems to remove the corresponding row.
  2. B.A framework of reusable source and sink connectors for streaming data in and out of Kafka without writing custom producer or consumer code.
  3. C.A managed ELT connector service that automates extraction and loading from SaaS and database sources into a warehouse with schema handling.
  4. D.Snowflake's rowset streaming ingestion that writes rows directly into tables with low latency, avoiding the file-staging step of classic Snowpipe.
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23. Which term means: "A change event representing a delete, often a key with a null value in Kafka, signaling downstream systems to remove the corresponding row."?

Mid
  1. A.Fivetran
  2. B.tombstone record
  3. C.initial snapshot mode
  4. D.schema drift handling
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24. Which statement is correct?

Mid
  1. A.tombstone record — A change event representing a delete, often a key with a null value in Kafka, signaling downstream systems to remove the corresponding row.
  2. B.tombstone record — A Kafka message with a non-null key and null value that signals deletion of that key, used by compacted topics and CDC delete events.
  3. C.tombstone record — A framework of reusable source and sink connectors that move data between Kafka and external systems without custom producer or consumer code.
  4. D.tombstone record — Automatically detecting and propagating source schema changes (new or altered columns) into the destination without breaking the pipeline.
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25. What is exactly-once delivery?

Senior
  1. A.A framework of reusable source and sink connectors for streaming data in and out of Kafka without writing custom producer or consumer code.
  2. B.A sink that can process the same record more than once without changing the result, typically by upserting on a key, enabling safe retries.
  3. C.A guarantee that each source change is reflected exactly once downstream despite retries, typically achieved with idempotent writes and offset tracking.
  4. D.A change event representing a delete, often a key with a null value in Kafka, signaling downstream systems to remove the corresponding row.
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26. Which term means: "A guarantee that each source change is reflected exactly once downstream despite retries, typically achieved with idempotent writes and offset tracking."?

Senior
  1. A.trigger-based CDC
  2. B.incremental snapshot
  3. C.exactly-once delivery
  4. D.snapshot plus streaming CDC
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27. Which statement is correct?

Senior
  1. A.exactly-once delivery — A guarantee that each source change is reflected exactly once downstream despite retries, typically achieved with idempotent writes and offset tracking.
  2. B.exactly-once delivery — An open-source CDC platform that reads database transaction logs and streams row-level change events, commonly through Kafka Connect.
  3. C.exactly-once delivery — A Debezium snapshot setting that reads the full current state of tables once before streaming ongoing log changes, giving a complete starting baseline.
  4. D.exactly-once delivery — A reusable integration component that extracts from a specific source or loads to a destination, the building block of managed ELT platforms.
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28. What is connector?

Junior
  1. A.Snowflake's rowset streaming ingestion that writes rows directly into tables with low latency, avoiding the file-staging step of classic Snowpipe.
  2. B.A managed ELT connector service that automates extraction and loading from SaaS and database sources into a warehouse with schema handling.
  3. C.A monotonically increasing position in a database transaction log (LSN) used by log-based CDC to resume exactly where it left off.
  4. D.A reusable integration component that extracts from a specific source or loads to a destination, the building block of managed ELT platforms.
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29. Which term means: "A reusable integration component that extracts from a specific source or loads to a destination, the building block of managed ELT platforms."?

Junior
  1. A.exactly-once delivery
  2. B.Debezium
  3. C.Snowpipe Streaming
  4. D.connector
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30. Which statement is correct?

Junior
  1. A.connector — A reusable integration component that extracts from a specific source or loads to a destination, the building block of managed ELT platforms.
  2. B.connector — A CDC approach that polls rows whose updated_at is newer than the last run; simple but can miss hard deletes and out-of-order updates.
  3. C.connector — A Debezium technique that chunks a table snapshot and interleaves it with live change streaming, avoiding long locks and allowing resumption.
  4. D.connector — A central service that stores and versions message schemas (Avro, Protobuf, JSON) and enforces compatibility rules between producers and consumers.
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