Apache Spark Interview Questions and Answers
Ques 1. What is Apache Spark?
Apache Spark is an open-source distributed computing system that provides fast and general-purpose cluster computing for big data processing and analytics.
Example:
SparkContext sc = new SparkContext("local", "SparkExample");
Ques 2. Explain the difference between Spark transformations and actions.
Transformations are operations that create a new RDD, while actions are operations that return a value to the driver program or write data to an external storage system.
Example:
val mappedRDD = inputRDD.map(x => x * 2)
val result = mappedRDD.reduce((x, y) => x + y)
Ques 3. What is the significance of Spark's lineage graph (DAG)?
Spark's lineage graph (DAG) is a directed acyclic graph that represents the sequence of transformations and actions on RDDs. It helps in recovering lost data in case of node failure.
Example:
val filteredRDD = inputRDD.filter(x => x > 0)
filteredRDD.toDebugString
Ques 4. What is the purpose of the SparkContext in Apache Spark?
SparkContext is the entry point for Spark functionality and represents the connection to the Spark cluster. It coordinates the execution of operations on the cluster.
Example:
val sc = new SparkContext("local", "SparkExample")
Ques 5. Explain the concept of lazy evaluation in Apache Spark.
Lazy evaluation is a strategy in which the execution of operations is delayed until the result is actually needed. This helps in optimizing the execution plan.
Example:
val filteredRDD = inputRDD.filter(x => x > 0)
filteredRDD.count()
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