Snowflake SnowPro Certification Practice Test

What is the preferred method for maintaining the complete form of semi-structured data while accessing it in a structured form in Snowflake?

1. Table

2. View

3. Database

4. External Stage

The correct answer is: View

Using a view in Snowflake is the preferred method for maintaining the complete form of semi-structured data while accessing it in a structured form. This approach enables users to create a virtual representation of the data, transforming the semi-structured format (such as JSON, Avro, or Parquet) into a structured queryable format on-the-fly. Views allow for the dynamic querying of raw semi-structured data without the need to modify the underlying data storage. This means that the original semi-structured data remains intact, and users can define a structured schema based on the attributes they are interested in while still having access to the complete dataset if needed. In other options, while a table does store structured data, it would require transformation and loading from the semi-structured format, which could lead to loss of context or information. A database serves as a container for tables, views, and other objects, but it doesn't inherently address the issue of accessing semi-structured data in a structured format. An external stage is used for accessing data stored in cloud storage (like AWS S3 or Azure Blob Storage) but does not provide direct querying capabilities nor maintain structured representations of semi-structured data.