DP-203 Develop data processing Practice Question
You are designing a data processing pipeline using Azure Data Factory. The pipeline must ingest data from an HTTP endpoint that returns a JSON array. The data must be transformed by flattening nested arrays and then loaded into an Azure SQL Database table. The pipeline should be triggered daily. You need to choose the appropriate activities and transformations. The solution must be cost-effective and easy to maintain. Which combination of activities should you use?
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 a Copy activity to ingest data from the HTTP source into Azure Blob Storage, then a Data Flow activity with a Flatten transformation to flatten the JSON, and finally a Copy activity to load into SQL Database.
The correct approach is Option B: Use a Copy activity to ingest data from the HTTP source into Azure Blob Storage (staging), then a Data Flow activity with a Flatten transformation to flatten the JSON, and finally a Copy activity to load into SQL Database. This is cost-effective and maintainable because it separates ingestion and transformation, allows for schema drift, and uses serverless Data Flows. Option A is wrong because Lookup is for reading a single row/value, not for bulk data ingestion; ForEach with insert would be inefficient and costly. Option C is wrong because Data Flows cannot directly read from HTTP sources; they require a dataset that is staged in a supported store like Blob Storage. Option D is wrong because it performs no transformation, so the nested JSON would not be flattened for loading into SQL.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Use a Lookup activity to read the JSON, then a ForEach activity to iterate and insert rows into SQL Database.
Why it's wrong here
Lookup is not designed for bulk ingestion.
- ✓
Use a Copy activity to ingest data from the HTTP source into Azure Blob Storage, then a Data Flow activity with a Flatten transformation to flatten the JSON, and finally a Copy activity to load into SQL Database.
Why this is correct
This is the standard pattern: ingest, transform, load.
- ✗
Use a Data Flow activity directly from HTTP source with a Flatten transformation and sink to SQL Database.
Why it's wrong here
Data Flow cannot directly read from HTTP source.
- ✗
Use two Copy activities: one to copy JSON to Blob Storage, and another to copy from Blob Storage to SQL Database without transformation.
Why it's wrong here
No flattening transformation is applied.
Quick reference
Azure Blob Storage Tier Comparison
| Tier | Storage Cost | Retrieval Cost | Latency | Use Case |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hot | Highest | Lowest | Immediate | Active data, frequent reads |
| Cool | Lower | Higher | Immediate | Data accessed < once / month |
| Cold | Lower still | Higher | Immediate | Data accessed < once / quarter |
| Archive | Lowest | Highest + rehydration delay | Hours | Long-term compliance retention |
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Written by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
This DP-203 practice question is part of Courseiva's free Microsoft 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 DP-203 exam.