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Databricks Certified Data Engineer Associate Exam - Topic 2 Question 57 Discussion

Actual exam question for Databricks's Databricks Certified Data Engineer Associate exam
Question #: 57
Topic #: 2
[All Databricks Certified Data Engineer Associate Questions]

A data engineer is attempting to drop a Spark SQL table my_table. The data engineer wants to delete all table metadata and data.

They run the following command:

DROP TABLE IF EXISTS my_table

While the object no longer appears when they run SHOW TABLES, the data files still exist.

Which of the following describes why the data files still exist and the metadata files were deleted?

Show Suggested Answer Hide Answer
Suggested Answer: C

An external table is a table that is defined in the metastore and points to an existing location in the storage system. When you drop an external table, only the metadata is deleted from the metastore, but the data files are not deleted from the storage system. This is because external tables are meant to be shared by multiple applications and users, and dropping them should not affect the data availability. On the other hand, a managed table is a table that is defined in the metastore and also managed by the metastore. When you drop a managed table, both the metadata and the data files are deleted from the metastore and the storage system, respectively. This is because managed tables are meant to be exclusive to the application or user that created them, and dropping them should free up the storage space. Therefore, the correct answer is C, because the table was external and only the metadata was deleted when the table was dropped.Reference:Databricks Documentation - Managed and External Tables,Databricks Documentation - Drop Table


by Hester at Nov 21, 2025, 10:24 AM

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Mohammad
9 hours ago
I think it's C) The table was external. That makes sense.
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Kyoko
6 days ago
Wait, so if it was managed, the data should be gone too?
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Mireya
11 days ago
Definitely C, external tables keep the data.
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Francene
16 days ago
I thought managed tables would delete everything, right?
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Kris
21 days ago
Haha, looks like the data engineer forgot to specify the location for the table. Classic mistake!
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Lashaun
26 days ago
D) The table did not have a location
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Earnestine
1 month ago
Ah, I see! The data files still exist because the table was external, meaning the data was stored outside of the Spark SQL managed tables.
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Billye
1 month ago
C) The table was external
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Beckie
1 month ago
I vaguely recall something about the size of the data affecting the drop command, but I can’t remember the specifics. It might not be related to the size at all.
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Myra
2 months ago
I practiced a similar question where the data files remained because the table was external. I think that’s definitely the case here, so I’ll go with C.
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Cathrine
2 months ago
I’m not entirely sure, but I feel like if the table was managed, the data should have been deleted too. Maybe it’s option E?
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Page
2 months ago
I'm leaning towards option C as well. The fact that the data files still exist after dropping the table implies it was an external table, not a managed table.
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Chana
2 months ago
I remember something about external tables keeping their data even after dropping them, so I think option C might be right.
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Lizbeth
2 months ago
The table was external, that's why the data files are still there.
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Carey
2 months ago
Okay, let me think this through. The key piece of information is that the data files still exist, even though the table no longer appears in SHOW TABLES. That suggests the table was external, so I'm going with option C.
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Denny
3 months ago
Yeah, I agree with C. External tables are tricky like that!
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Adelle
3 months ago
Hmm, my initial thought was that the table was smaller than 10 GB, so option B might be correct. But the question doesn't mention anything about the table size, so I'm not sure that's the right answer.
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Yuette
3 months ago
I'm a bit confused on this one. If the table was managed, wouldn't the data files have been deleted? I'm not sure why the metadata would be deleted but the data files would remain.
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Angelyn
3 months ago
I think the answer is C - the table was external. The question says the data files still exist, which suggests the table was not managed by Spark.
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