Which of the following table types does Hive support? (multiple choice)

Question

Options

• APartition table
• BBucket table
• CTilt table
• DPartition + bucket table

• A
  100% (46)

Explanation

There appears to be an error in the provided answer key. "Tilt table" (C) is not a real Hive table type, so the correct answer should be A, B, and D only.

Why A, B, and D are correct: Hive natively supports partition tables, which split data into subdirectories based on column values to speed up queries; bucket tables, which hash-distribute data into a fixed number of files within a partition for efficient sampling and joins; and partition + bucket tables, which combine both strategies - partitioning for coarse filtering and bucketing for fine-grained organization within each partition.

Why C is wrong: "Tilt table" has no meaning in Hive or any major data warehousing system - it is a distractor designed to test whether you know the actual terminology.

Memory tip: Think P-B-PB - Partition, Bucket, Partition+Bucket. Bucketing always happens inside a partition (or the whole table), so the three valid types naturally form a hierarchy: partition alone, bucket alone, or both together. If you see an unfamiliar compound word like "Tilt," it's almost certainly a made-up distractor.

Note for exam takers: If this question appears on your actual exam with A, B, C, D marked correct, flag it - the answer key is likely wrong. The standard Hive documentation lists partition, bucket, and combined partition-bucket tables, with no "Tilt table" concept.

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