DA0-002 Data Acquisition and Preparation Practice Question
You have a hierarchical table 'Employees' with columns emp_id, emp_name, manager_id (referencing emp_id). You need to generate a full reporting chain from a given employee up to the CEO. Which SQL construct is most appropriate?
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
✓
Recursive CTE with UNION ALL
Recursive CTEs are designed for hierarchical data, allowing iteration through parent-child relationships. Non-recursive CTEs cannot loop. Self-join with multiple levels is possible but requires knowing the depth. Window functions are not suitable for tree traversal.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✓
Recursive CTE with UNION ALL
Why this is correct
Recursively joins the table to itself to traverse the hierarchy.
- ✗
Non-recursive CTE
Why it's wrong here
Cannot iterate; only one level.
- ✗
Window function with PARTITION BY
Why it's wrong here
Not designed for hierarchical relationships.
- ✗
Self-join with multiple JOINs
Why it's wrong here
Works if depth is known and limited, but not flexible for variable depth.
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