All 68 questions

  1. What are stored procedures, how do they work, and when would you use them instead of direct SQL?

    Asked in 10 of 612 interviews · last asked Oct 16 · Concept · Junior

    Show answer

    Stored procedures are named routines stored in a database that group SQL statements for reuse. You call them by name, often with parameters, and the database runs their logic. I use them for shared database tasks, controlled access, or fewer client calls; direct SQL is often simpler for small queries or logic that changes frequently.

    • Procedures avoid repeating the same SQL logic across applications.
    • They may return results or output parameters, depending on the database.
    • Call syntax, transaction rules, and permission behavior vary by database.
    • Stored procedures are not automatically faster than direct SQL.

    What the interviewer checks: The interviewer checks whether you understand how procedures run and when their benefits justify using them.

    Common mistake (in 3 of 5 reviewed answers): Many answers forget that stored procedures group SQL logic for reuse instead of repeating direct SQL calls.

    Other ways it was asked
    • “What are stored procedures, and when would you use them?”
    • “What are SQL stored procedures, and when would you use them?”
    • “What do you know about stored procedures?”

  2. What are database triggers, and when would you use them?

    Asked in 6 of 612 interviews · last asked Sep 9 · Concept · Mid-level

    Other ways it was asked
    • “What is a database trigger, and when would you use one?”
    • “What are triggers in SQL?”
    • “What are some use cases for database triggers?”

  3. How do database functions and stored procedures differ, and when would you choose each?

    Asked in 5 of 612 interviews · last asked Sep 18 · Concept · Junior

    Other ways it was asked
    • “What is the difference between a function and a stored procedure?”
    • “What's the difference between functions and stored procedures?”
    • “What is the difference between a stored procedure and a function?”

  4. What is a materialized view, and when would you use one?

    Asked in 5 of 612 interviews · last asked Sep 18 · Concept · Mid-level

    Other ways it was asked
    • “What is the difference between a view and a materialized view?”
    • “When would you use a materialized view?”
    • “What are materialized views?”

  5. What are database views, and when would you use them?

    Asked in 5 of 612 interviews · last asked Sep 25 · Concept · Junior

    Other ways it was asked
    • “What is a SQL view, and why would you use one?”
    • “Can you explain SQL views?”
    • “What is a database view, and when would you use one?”

  6. How do BULK COLLECT and FORALL work together to process rows efficiently in PL/SQL?

    Asked in 2 of 612 interviews · last asked Sep 4 · Concept · Mid-level

    Other ways it was asked
    • “What is the difference between BULK COLLECT and FORALL in Oracle PL/SQL?”
    • “What performance bottlenecks can arise when processing rows with BULK COLLECT and FORALL, and how would you address them?”

  7. When would you use a stored procedure, a database function, or a view?

    Asked once · last asked Aug 20 · Concept · Mid-level

  8. What are join indexes and fully materialized views, and when would you use them?

    Asked once · last asked Feb 11 · Concept · Mid-level

  9. How do you design database tables and create stored procedures, views, and functions? Which database systems do you consider most robust, and why?

    Asked once · last asked Apr 14 · Concept · Mid-level

  10. How do you use SQL queries, data extraction, and stored procedures when working with relational databases?

    Asked once · last asked Jun 19 · Tooling · Mid-level

  11. In Oracle, what's the difference between a cursor FOR loop and using BULK COLLECT with FORALL, and when would you choose each for high-volume updates?

    Asked once · last asked Jun 25 · Concept · Senior

  12. When using BULK COLLECT with FORALL, how do you handle row-level errors so the batch can continue, and how do you capture which rows failed?

    Asked once · last asked Jun 25 · Scenario · Senior

  13. How would you write a stored procedure that generates a data file and saves it to a directory?

    Asked once · last asked Jul 16 · Tooling · Mid-level

  14. What is the difference between procedures and functions?

    Asked once · last asked Jul 20 · Concept · Junior

  15. What parameter modes can a stored procedure use besides OUT?

    Asked once · last asked Jul 20 · Concept · Junior

  16. What is a trigger, and what types of triggers exist?

    Asked once · last asked Jul 20 · Concept · Junior

  17. How can database triggers be used for debugging or analysis?

    Asked once · last asked Jul 20 · Scenario · Mid-level

  18. Does a database view store data, or does it store the SQL statement?

    Asked once · last asked Jul 20 · Concept · Junior

  19. How would you test stored procedures and calculated database values when running calculations in Python?

    Asked once · last asked Jul 31 · Scenario · Mid-level

    Other ways it was asked
    • “How did you test stored procedures and calculated database values when running calculations in Python?”

  20. What is the added value of a view, and when is it better to use one?

    Asked once · last asked Aug 11 · Concept · Mid-level

  21. What is the difference between a temp table and a table variable?

    Asked once · last asked Aug 26 · Concept · Mid-level

  22. If you had to troubleshoot a problem with a stored procedure that uses Facets data, how would you go about it?

    Asked once · last asked Aug 27 · Scenario · Mid-level

  23. What are SQL Server triggers, and what types of triggers are available?

    Asked once · last asked Aug 31 · Concept · Mid-level

  24. How would you query a SQL Server table-valued function that takes an order ID and returns order items?

    Asked once · last asked Aug 31 · Write code · Mid-level

  25. How would you approach building or optimizing a PL/SQL package or procedure?

    Asked once · last asked Sep 4 · Behavioral · Mid-level

    Other ways it was asked
    • “Tell me about one specific PL/SQL package or procedure you built or optimized recently.”

  26. How would you use AI tools such as GitHub Copilot for PL/SQL development?

    Asked once · last asked Sep 4 · Tooling · Mid-level

    Other ways it was asked
    • “How have you used AI tools such as GitHub Copilot for PL/SQL development?”

  27. How would you avoid row-by-row processing in PL/SQL when processing a million rows?

    Asked once · last asked Sep 4 · Scenario · Senior

  28. Which PL/SQL collection types are suitable for bulk processing, how do you manage memory, and how do you choose batch size?

    Asked once · last asked Sep 4 · Concept · Senior

  29. How would you handle errors that occur partway through a PL/SQL bulk operation?

    Asked once · last asked Sep 4 · Scenario · Senior

  30. How do you choose a LIMIT size for BULK COLLECT, and what trade-offs does it involve?

    Asked once · last asked Sep 4 · Concept · Mid-level

  31. How do you handle individual row failures during a FORALL operation in PL/SQL?

    Asked once · last asked Sep 4 · Scenario · Mid-level

  32. What does SAVE EXCEPTIONS do?

    Asked once · last asked Sep 4 · Concept · Mid-level

  33. What is the difference between a ref cursor and a normal cursor?

    Asked once · last asked Sep 4 · Concept · Mid-level

  34. What is a materialized view log?

    Asked once · last asked Sep 4 · Concept · Mid-level

  35. What is a mutating table error?

    Asked once · last asked Sep 4 · Concept · Mid-level

  36. When would you use a materialized view instead of a normal view, and how would you choose a refresh strategy?

    Asked once · last asked Sep 4 · Scenario · Senior

    Other ways it was asked
    • “Can you describe a real scenario where you used a materialized view instead of a normal view, and what refresh strategy did you use and why?”

  37. How would you use system-versioned temporal tables to maintain an auditable history of database changes?

    Asked once · last asked Sep 5 · Concept · Mid-level

  38. What rules or restrictions do you consider when calling a PL/SQL function from a SQL query to avoid runtime errors or unintended side effects?

    Asked once · last asked Sep 7 · Concept · Senior

  39. What are SQL stored procedures and functions, and how do they differ?

    Asked once · last asked Sep 19 · Concept · Mid-level

  40. Can SQL functions and stored procedures be called from a SELECT statement, and what happens when you try?

    Asked once · last asked Sep 19 · Concept · Mid-level

  41. How would you approach supporting a complex Oracle PL/SQL or SQL batch process that you did not originally build?

    Asked once · last asked Sep 22 · Scenario · Senior

  42. In SQL Server, what syntax would you use to return a stored procedure's table result as XML?

    Asked once · last asked Sep 25 · Write code · Mid-level

  43. When would you use aggregations or stored procedures to push processing logic down to SAP HANA?

    Asked once · last asked Oct 6 · Concept · Senior

  44. What does the CLOSE statement do in SQL, and when would you use it?

    Asked once · last asked Oct 11 · Concept · Junior

  45. How do you approach complex MySQL queries, stored procedures, transactions, and query optimization?

    Asked once · last asked Oct 20 · Tooling · Senior

  46. How do you create and use stored procedures in Snowflake?

    Asked once · last asked Jan 8 · Tooling · Mid-level

  47. How do you debug a stored procedure to understand what it does?

    Asked once · last asked Mar 9 · Tooling · Mid-level

  48. How do you execute a batch of SQL statements?

    Asked once · last asked Apr 8 · Write code · Junior

  49. What are the advantages and disadvantages of stored procedures?

    Asked once · last asked May 5 · Concept · Mid-level

  50. What are SQL temporary tables, and when would you use them?

    Asked once · last asked May 19 · Concept · Mid-level

  51. What are SQL functions, and how do their inputs and outputs work?

    Asked once · last asked May 26 · Concept · Junior

  52. How are user-defined tables, partitioning, and triggers used in SQL Server?

    Asked once · last asked May 26 · Concept · Mid-level

  53. Does SQLite support stored procedures?

    Asked once · last asked Jul 16 · Concept · Junior

    Other ways it was asked
    • “What is a procedure in SQLite databases?”

  54. How do you develop database procedures and functions, and when would you use them?

    Asked once · last asked Jul 16 · Concept · Junior

  55. Can a procedure also return a value?

    Asked once · last asked Jul 20 · Concept · Junior

  56. How can you capture a value returned by a stored procedure in a variable?

    Asked once · last asked Jul 20 · Concept · Junior

  57. What do you mean by triggers, and when do we use them?

    Asked once · last asked Jul 26 · Concept · Junior

  58. What is an explicit cursor?

    Asked once · last asked Jul 26 · Concept · Junior

  59. What is the difference between a table and a view in MySQL?

    Asked once · last asked Aug 11 · Concept · Junior

  60. What are MySQL triggers?

    Asked once · last asked Aug 11 · Concept · Junior

  61. What is a database view?

    Asked once · last asked Aug 12 · Concept · Junior

    Other ways it was asked
    • “What is a view?”

  62. What are user-defined functions?

    Asked once · last asked Sep 9 · Concept · Junior

  63. Can you write SQL code to create a view?

    Asked once · last asked Sep 14 · Write code · Junior

  64. Which is faster, a SQL function or a stored procedure, and why?

    Asked once · last asked Sep 19 · Concept · Mid-level

  65. What is a synonym in SQL?

    Asked once · last asked Sep 25 · Concept · Junior

  66. What is the difference between a scalar-valued function and a table-valued function?

    Asked once · last asked Sep 25 · Concept · Junior

  67. What is a user-defined table type?

    Asked once · last asked Sep 25 · Concept · Mid-level

  68. Can you describe a situation where you would use views?

    Asked once · last asked Jan 25 · Scenario · Junior

More SQL interview questions

How this list is made

Every question here was asked by a real interviewer in a real job interview that a candidate ran MeetAssist in. After the call, the interviewer's questions are pulled from the transcript. Practice sessions, tests, exams and anything that was not a job interview are dropped.

Questions are rewritten so they make sense on their own: names of people, employers and clients are removed, and speech-to-text mistakes are fixed. Small talk, logistics and questions about one candidate's own résumé are left out. Rephrasings of the same question are merged, and the count is the number of different interviews it came up in.

The interviews come from candidates who use MeetAssist, so they lean towards software, data and AI roles: the shares describe these interviews, not every SQL interview. Answers to the most asked questions are written and checked by an editor; a "common mistake" is shown only when reviews of real answers in these interviews show it, with the count.

612 interviews, 357 candidates, Nov 2025 to Oct 2026. Updated every month with new interviews.