DP-203 Develop data processing Practice Question
Your organization uses Azure Data Lake Storage Gen2 (ADLS Gen2) and wants to transform data using Azure Databricks. The data is stored in Parquet format. You need to read the data into a Spark DataFrame. Which DataFrame reader method should you use?
⚠ Common exam trap
It's easy for candidates to confuse file format reader methods (e.g., using `spark.read.avro()` for Parquet data) due to assuming all binary formats are interchangeable, but each reader method is strictly tied to its specific file format.
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
✓
spark.read.parquet()
The data is stored in Parquet format, and the Spark DataFrame reader method `spark.read.parquet()` is specifically designed to read Parquet files, which is a columnar storage format optimized for big data processing in Azure Databricks.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
spark.read.avro()
Why it's wrong here
Avro reader is for Avro format.
- ✗
spark.read.json()
Why it's wrong here
JSON reader is for JSON files.
- ✓
spark.read.parquet()
Why this is correct
The parquet() method reads Parquet files directly.
- ✗
spark.read.csv()
Why it's wrong here
CSV reader is for comma-separated values, not Parquet.
Go deeper
Related to this question
About these practice questions
One of 760 original DP-203 practice questions on Courseiva, each with a full explanation and wrong-answer analysis — not exam dumps or protected exam content. Learn why practice questions differ from exam dumps →
JA
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.