This DEA-C01 practice question tests your understanding of data store management. Read the scenario carefully and evaluate each option against the stated constraints before committing to an answer. After answering, compare your reasoning against the explanation and wrong-answer breakdown below. Once you have made your selection, read the full explanation to reinforce the concept and understand why each distractor is designed to mislead on exam day.
Exhibit
Refer to the exhibit.
CREATE EXTERNAL TABLE my_table (
id INT,
name STRING,
value DOUBLE
)
ROW FORMAT SERDE 'org.apache.hadoop.hive.ql.io.parquet.serde.ParquetHiveSerDe'
STORED AS INPUTFORMAT 'org.apache.hadoop.mapred.TextInputFormat'
OUTPUTFORMAT 'org.apache.hadoop.hive.ql.io.HiveIgnoreKeyTextOutputFormat'
LOCATION 's3://my-bucket/data/'
TBLPROPERTIES ('classification'='parquet');
A data engineer runs the above DDL statement in Amazon Athena. The query returns an error. What is the most likely cause?
Clue words in this question
Noticing these words before you look at the options changes how you read each choice.
Clue: "most likely"
Why it matters: Probability qualifier — the question wants the most probable cause or outcome, not a guaranteed one. Eliminate low-probability options.
Exhibit
Refer to the exhibit.
CREATE EXTERNAL TABLE my_table (
id INT,
name STRING,
value DOUBLE
)
ROW FORMAT SERDE 'org.apache.hadoop.hive.ql.io.parquet.serde.ParquetHiveSerDe'
STORED AS INPUTFORMAT 'org.apache.hadoop.mapred.TextInputFormat'
OUTPUTFORMAT 'org.apache.hadoop.hive.ql.io.HiveIgnoreKeyTextOutputFormat'
LOCATION 's3://my-bucket/data/'
TBLPROPERTIES ('classification'='parquet');
A
The SerDe is not compatible with Parquet files.
Why wrong: ParquetHiveSerDe is correct for Parquet.
B
The INPUTFORMAT is incorrect for Parquet files.
TextInputFormat is for text files, not Parquet. Should use Parquet input format.
C
The S3 bucket location does not exist.
Why wrong: The error is due to incompatible format, not missing location.
D
The table name contains underscores.
Why wrong: Underscores are allowed in Athena table names.
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
The INPUTFORMAT is incorrect for Parquet files.
The DDL statement uses the default INPUTFORMAT 'org.apache.hadoop.mapred.TextInputFormat', which is designed for text-based files like CSV or JSON, not for binary columnar formats like Parquet. Parquet requires 'org.apache.hadoop.hive.ql.io.parquet.MapredParquetInputFormat' to correctly read the file's metadata and compressed column chunks. Using the wrong INPUTFORMAT causes Athena to fail when attempting to parse the Parquet file, resulting in an error.
Key principle: Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
✗
The SerDe is not compatible with Parquet files.
Why it's wrong here
ParquetHiveSerDe is correct for Parquet.
✓
The INPUTFORMAT is incorrect for Parquet files.
Why this is correct
TextInputFormat is for text files, not Parquet. Should use Parquet input format.
Clue confirmation
The clue word "most likely" in the question point toward this answer.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
✗
The S3 bucket location does not exist.
Why it's wrong here
The error is due to incompatible format, not missing location.
✗
The table name contains underscores.
Why it's wrong here
Underscores are allowed in Athena table names.
Common exam traps
Common exam trap: answer the scenario, not the keyword
The DEA-C01 exam often tests the distinction between SerDe and InputFormat, leading candidates to incorrectly blame the SerDe (Option A) when the actual issue is the InputFormat, which controls how the file is physically read from storage.
Detailed technical explanation
How to think about this question
Parquet files store data in a binary columnar format with embedded schema metadata, requiring a specialized input format that can read row groups, column chunks, and page-level compression. The default TextInputFormat attempts to read the file as line-delimited text, which fails because Parquet files start with a 4-byte magic number 'PAR1' followed by binary data. In real-world scenarios, this error commonly occurs when engineers copy DDL from a CSV table definition and forget to update the INPUTFORMAT and OUTPUTFORMAT for Parquet.
KKey Concepts to Remember
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
Find the constraint that changes the correct option.
Eliminate answers that are true in general but not in this case.
TExam Day Tips
→Watch for words such as best, first, most likely and least administrative effort.
→Review why wrong options are wrong, not only why the correct option is correct.
Key takeaway
Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option.
Real-world example
How this comes up in practice
A media company stores terabytes of video archives that are accessed once a year for audit purposes. Moving these objects to a cold storage tier (Azure Archive, S3 Glacier, or Google Nearline) costs a fraction of hot storage. Questions like this test whether you understand storage tiers, access frequency tradeoffs, and retrieval latency requirements.
What to study next
Got this wrong? Here's your next step.
Identify which exam domain this question belongs to, review the core concept, then practise similar questions from the same domain.
Data Store Management — This question tests Data Store Management — Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer..
What is the correct answer to this question?
The correct answer is: The INPUTFORMAT is incorrect for Parquet files. — The DDL statement uses the default INPUTFORMAT 'org.apache.hadoop.mapred.TextInputFormat', which is designed for text-based files like CSV or JSON, not for binary columnar formats like Parquet. Parquet requires 'org.apache.hadoop.hive.ql.io.parquet.MapredParquetInputFormat' to correctly read the file's metadata and compressed column chunks. Using the wrong INPUTFORMAT causes Athena to fail when attempting to parse the Parquet file, resulting in an error.
What should I do if I get this DEA-C01 question wrong?
Identify which exam domain this question belongs to, review the core concept, then practise similar questions from the same domain.
Are there clue words in this question I should notice?
Yes — watch for: "most likely". Probability qualifier — the question wants the most probable cause or outcome, not a guaranteed one. Eliminate low-probability options.
What is the key concept behind this question?
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
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Question Discussion
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