Google ACE Practice Question: Ensuring Successful Operation of a Cloud Solution
A developer needs to query BigQuery using the bq command-line tool with standard SQL. Which flag should they include?
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
✓
--use_legacy_sql=false
The '--use_legacy_sql=false' flag enables standard SQL. By default, bq uses legacy SQL. '--format' controls output format, not SQL dialect. '--project_id' specifies project. '--sync' is not a valid bq flag.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
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--format
Why it's wrong here
The `--format` flag controls how BigQuery presents query results (e.g., `prettyjson`, `json`, `csv`) and has no effect on query parsing. Even if you specify a valid output format, the `bq query` command still defaults to legacy SQL, so a standard SQL query will fail with a syntax error before any formatting is applied. Thus, setting `--format` alone does nothing to make the query execute successfully.
- ✓
--use_legacy_sql=false
Why this is correct
`--use_legacy_sql=false` is the required flag because the `bq` command-line tool historically defaults to legacy SQL when running queries. Legacy SQL uses a different syntax and operates differently from standard GoogleSQL (e.g., unique handling of JOINs and functions). Passing `false` explicitly switches the parser to standard SQL, allowing the developer's query to run without rewriting it into legacy dialect.
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--project_id
Why it's wrong here
The `--project_id` flag sets the default Google Cloud project for the operation, which determines where resources and jobs are resolved and billed. While it is necessary for targeting the correct project, it in no way influences the SQL dialect the parser uses. A query written in standard SQL will still be rejected as invalid unless you also add `--use_legacy_sql=false`, so `--project_id` cannot substitute for the correct flag.
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--sync
Why it's wrong here
The `--sync` flag (default `true`) controls whether the `bq` command blocks until the query job completes or returns immediately with a job reference that you can poll later. This affects job execution timing and scripting behavior, not how query text is interpreted. Regardless of the `--sync` value, without `--use_legacy_sql=false` the query is still parsed as legacy SQL, so standard SQL syntax remains invalid.
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Written by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
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