hardMultiple Choice
FC0-U71 Practice Question: A database analyst is designing a schema for a…
A database analyst is designing a schema for a library system. Each book can have multiple authors, and each author can write multiple books. Which relationship type should be used?
⚠ Common exam trap
Test-takers frequently confuse one-to-many with many-to-many when the problem statement mentions 'multiple' on one side only, but the key is that both entities can have multiple related records, which requires a junction table.
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
✓
Many-to-many
The correct relationship is many-to-many because a book can have multiple authors and an author can write multiple books. In database schema design, this requires a junction table (also known as a linking or associative table) to resolve the many-to-many relationship into two one-to-many relationships, ensuring referential integrity and avoiding data redundancy.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Many-to-one
Why it's wrong here
Many-to-one describes several books mapping to a single author, which cannot represent an author who writes multiple books. The scenario needs a junction table resolving a many-to-many relationship. Many-to-one would be correct where many child records reference one parent, such as many orders belonging to one customer.
- ✗
One-to-many
Why it's wrong here
One-to-many places the foreign key on the book side, so each book has one author and an author's multiple books are captured — but it cannot express one book having several authors. A junction table is required. One-to-many fits a single-author-per-book library catalogue.
- ✓
Many-to-many
Why this is correct
A book can have many authors and an author many books, so neither side holds a single foreign key. A junction table resolves this many-to-many relationship into two one-to-many links, which a one-to-many or one-to-one design cannot represent.
- ✗
One-to-one
Why it's wrong here
One-to-one links exactly one record to exactly one other, so neither multiple authors per book nor multiple books per author can be stored. The scenario demands a many-to-many relationship via a junction table. One-to-one would be correct for splitting optional attributes of a single entity into a separate table.
Visual reference
Go deeper
Related to this question
About these practice questions
This FC0-U71 question is part of Courseiva's 988-question bank — original exam-style content with full explanations and wrong-answer analysis, never real exam questions or exam dumps. Learn why practice questions differ from exam dumps →
Same concept, more angles
1 more way this is tested on FC0-U71
These questions test the same concept from different angles. Work through them to make sure you can recognise it however the exam phrases it.
Variation 1. A database has a 'Students' table and an 'Enrollments' table. Which type of relationship exists if a student can enroll in multiple courses and each course can have multiple students?
hard- ✓ A.Many-to-many
- B.Many-to-one
- C.One-to-many
- D.One-to-one
Why A: A many-to-many relationship exists when multiple records in one table are associated with multiple records in another table. Here, a student can enroll in multiple courses, and each course can have multiple students, which is the definition of many-to-many.
JA
Written by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
This FC0-U71 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 FC0-U71 exam.