hardMultiple Choice
FC0-U71 Practice Question: A database designer is modeling a system where…
A database designer is modeling a system where each book can have multiple authors and each author can write multiple books. Which type of relationship should be used between the Book and Author entities?
⚠ Common exam trap
It's easy for candidates to confuse a one-to-many relationship with many-to-many, mistakenly thinking that adding multiple author fields to the Book table (violating first normal form) is acceptable, rather than recognizing the need for 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 scenario describes a many-to-many relationship because each book can have multiple authors and each author can write multiple books. In relational database design, this is modeled using a junction (or associative) table that contains foreign keys referencing both the Book and Author primary keys, enabling the bidirectional association without 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.
- ✗
One-to-one
Why it's wrong here
One-to-one enforces a single matching row on each side, so a book could reference only one author and vice versa. Many-to-many needs a junction table. One-to-one fits splitting sensitive data, such as credentials, into a separate table keyed to one user.
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Hierarchical
Why it's wrong here
A hierarchical model structures records as parent-child trees, permitting each child exactly one parent, so an author cannot link to multiple books while books link to multiple authors. It suits directory or bill-of-materials data, not the reciprocal many-to-many association this scenario requires.
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One-to-many
Why it's wrong here
A one-to-many relationship places the foreign key on only one side, so each book links to a single author and each author to one book per record. Many-to-many requires a junction table. One-to-many suits a book with several reviews, where each review belongs to one book.
- ✓
Many-to-many
Why this is correct
Many-to-many applies because one book links to several authors and one author links to several books simultaneously. It is implemented with a junction table holding foreign keys to both Book and Author, resolving the bidirectional multiplicity.
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