DA0-002 Data Acquisition and Preparation Practice Question
A data analyst is using a public API to collect historical weather data. The API has a rate limit of 100 requests per minute, but the analyst needs to retrieve 10,000 records as quickly as possible. What strategy should be used?
⚠ Common exam trap
Watch out — candidates often assume 'as quickly as possible' means sending requests as fast as possible (Option A) or using multiple keys (Option B), overlooking that rate limits are enforced per key or IP and that proper pagination with delays is the only compliant way to maximize throughput.
Answer choices
Why each option matters
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
Paginate with appropriate delays
Paginating with appropriate delays respects the API's rate limit of 100 requests per minute while maximizing throughput. By splitting the 10,000 records into pages (e.g., 100 records per page) and sending requests at a rate just under the limit (e.g., one request every 0.6 seconds), the analyst can retrieve all data in approximately 100 minutes without triggering HTTP 429 rate-limit errors.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Increase the request rate
Why it's wrong here
Exceeding rate limits can lead to blocking.
- ✗
Use multiple API keys
Why it's wrong here
Using multiple keys may violate the API's terms of service.
- ✓
Paginate with appropriate delays
Why this is correct
Pagination allows systematic retrieval; delays ensure compliance with rate limits.
- ✗
Download a precompiled dataset
Why it's wrong here
Precompiled datasets may not exist or be up-to-date.
Go deeper
Related to this question
About these practice questions
Courseiva writes every DA0-002 question from scratch — 986 in total, each with an explanation and a wrong-answer breakdown. None are copied from real exams or dumps. Learn why practice questions differ from exam dumps →
JA
Written by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
This DA0-002 practice question is part of Courseiva's free CompTIA certification practice question bank. Courseiva provides original exam-style practice questions with explanations, topic-based practice, mock exams, readiness tracking, and study analytics to help learners prepare for the DA0-002 exam.