Oracle technical interview questions and answers are crucial for candidates preparing for database-related roles such as Database Developer, SQL Programmer, DBA, or Data Analyst. Oracle is widely used in enterprise applications, so interviewers frequently test a candidate’s concepts in SQL, PL/SQL, joins, indexing, triggers, views, transaction management, and performance tuning. Companies like TCS, Wipro, Infosys, Capgemini, and Cognizant often include Oracle questions in both technical interviews and written tests. This guide covers the most frequently asked Oracle interview questions with clear explanations, practical examples, and beginner-friendly definitions. Whether you are preparing for a campus placement or an experienced-level interview, mastering these Oracle concepts will help you answer confidently. You can also download Oracle interview PDFs and practice company-wise mock tests to enhance your preparation.
Database professionals can deepen their Oracle expertise by studying PL/SQL programming and understanding DBMS concepts thoroughly
2. What are the components of physical database structure of Oracle database?
Answer: Oracle database is comprised of three types of files. One or more datafiles, two are more redo log files, and one or more control files.
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3. What are actual and formal parameters ?
Answer: Actual Parameters : Subprograms pass information using parameters.The variables or expressions referenced in the parameter list of a subprogram call are actual parameters.For example, the following procedure call lists two actual parameters named emp_num and amount:
Eg.raise_salary(emp_num, amount);
Formal Parameters : The variables declared in a subprogram specification and referenced in the subprogram body are formal parameters.For example, the following procedure declares two formal paramet
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4. What are the components of logical database structure of Oracle database?
Answer: There are tablespaces and databases schema objects.
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6. What is a tablespace?
Answer: A database is divided into Logical Storage Unit called tablespaces. A tablespace is used to grouped related logical structures together.
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7. What is a transaction in Oracle ?
Answer: A transaction is a set of SQL statements between any two COMMIT and ROLLBACK statements.
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8. What is SYSTEM tablespace and when is it created?
Answer: Every Oracle database contains a tablespace named SYSTEM, which is automatically created when the database is created. The SYSTEM tablespace always contains the data dictionary tables for the entire database.
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9. Explain the relationship among database, tablespace and data file ?
Answer: Each databases logically divided into one or more tablespaces one or more data files are explicitly created for each tablespace.
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10. What are the various types of Exceptions in Oracle ?
Answer: User defined Exceptions
Predefined Exceptions
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11. What is implicit cursor and how is it used by Oracle ?
Answer: An implicit cursor is a cursor which is internally created by Oracle.It is created by Oracle for each individual SQL
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13. What are the types of Notation in Oracle ?
Answer: Position, Named, Mixed and Restrictions.
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14. What are Schema Objects?
Answer: Schema objects are the logical structures that directly refer to the databases data. Schema objects include tables, views, sequences, synonyms, indexes, clusters, database triggers, procedures, functions packages and database links.
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17. What is Oracle table?
Answer: A table is the basic unit of data storage in an Oracle database. The tables of a database hold all of the user accessible data. Table data is stored in rows and columns.
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18. What is an Oracle view?
Answer: A view is a virtual table. Every view has a query attached to it. (The query is a SELECT statement that identifies the columns and rows of the table(s) the view uses.)
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19. What is Partial Backup ?
Answer: A Partial Backup is any operating system backup short of a full backup, taken while the database is open or shut down.
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20. What is Mirrored on-line Redo Log ?
Answer: A mirrored on-line redo log consists of copies of on-line redo log files physically located on separate disks, changes made to one member of the group are made to all members.
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21. What is Full Backup ?
Answer: A full backup is an operating system backup of all data files, on-line redo log files and control file that constitute ORACLE database and the parameter.
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25. What is the use of Control File ?
Answer: When an instance of an ORACLE database is started, its control file is used to identify the database and redo log files that must be opened for database operation to proceed. It is also used in database recovery.
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27. What are the Referential actions supported by FOREIGN KEY integrity constraint ?
Answer: UPDATE and DELETE Restrict - A referential integrity rule that disallows the update or deletion of referenced data. DELETE Cascade - When a referenced row is deleted all associated dependent rows are deleted.
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28. What are the type of Synonyms?
Answer: There are two types of Synonyms Private and Public.
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29. What is a Redo Log ?
Answer: The set of Redo Log files YSDATE,UID,USER or USERENV SQL functions, or the pseudo columns LEVEL or ROWNUM.
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30. Explain the relationship among Database, Tablespace and Data file?
Answer: Each databases logically divided into one or more tablespaces one or more data files are explicitly created for each tablespace
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31. What are the different type of Segments ?
Answer: Data Segment, Index Segment, Rollback Segment and Temporary Segment.
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32. What are Clusters ?
Answer: Clusters are groups of one or more tables physically stores together to share common columns and are often used together.
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33. What is an Integrity Constrains ?
Answer: An integrity constraint is a declarative way to define a business rule for a column of a table.
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34. What is an Index ?
Answer: An Index is an optional structure associated with a table to have direct access to rows, which can be created to increase the
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35. What is an Extent ?
Answer: An Extent is a specific number of contiguous data blocks, obtained in a single allocation, and used to store a specific type of information.
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36. What is a View ?
Answer: A view is a virtual table. Every view has a Query attached to it. (The Query is a SELECT statement that identifies the
columns and rows of the table(s) the view uses.)
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37. What is an Index Segment ?
Answer: Each Index has an Index segment that stores all of its data.
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38. What is Table ?
Answer: A table is the basic unit of data storage in an ORACLE database. The tables of a database hold all of the user accessible data. Table data is stored in rows and columns.
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40. What are the advantages of views?
Answer: - Provide an additional level of table security, by restricting access to a predetermined set of rows and columns of a table.
- Hide data complexity.
- Simplify commands for the user.
- Present the data in a different perspective from that of the base
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41. What is an Oracle sequence?
Answer: A sequence generates a serial list of unique numbers for numerical columns of a databases tables.
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42. What is a synonym?
Answer: A synonym is an alias for a table, view, sequence or program unit.
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43. What are the types of synonyms?
Answer: There are two types of synonyms private and public.
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46. What are synonyms used for?
Answer: - Mask the real name and owner of an object.
- Provide public access to an object
- Provide location transparency for tables, views or program units of a remote database.
- Simplify the SQL statements for database users.
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47. What is an Oracle index?
Answer: An index is an optional structure associated with a table to have direct access to rows, which can be created to increase the performance of data retrieval. Index can be created on one or more columns of a table.
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48. How are the index updates?
Answer: Indexes are automatically maintained and used by Oracle. Changes to table data are automatically incorporated into all relevant indexes.
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49. What is a Tablespace?
Answer: A database is divided into Logical Storage Unit called tablespace. A tablespace is used to grouped related logical structures
together
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50. What is Rollback Segment ?
Answer: A Database contains one or more Rollback Segments to temporarily store “undo” information.
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51. What are the Characteristics of Data Files ?
Answer: A data file can be associated with only one database. Once created a data file cant change size. One or more data files form a logical unit of database storage called a tablespace.
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52. How to define Data Block size ?
Answer: A data block size is specified for each ORACLE database when the database is created. A database users and allocated free database space in ORACLE data blocks. Block size is specified in INIT.ORA file and cant be changed latter.
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53. What does a Control file Contain ?
Answer: A Control file records the physical structure of the database. It contains the following information.
Database Name
Names and locations of a databases files and redolog files.
Time stamp of database creation.
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54. What is difference between UNIQUE constraint and PRIMARY KEY constraint ?
Answer: A column defined as UNIQUE can contain Nulls while a column defined as PRIMARY KEY cant contain Nulls.
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57. What is the effect of setting the value “ALL_ROWS” for OPTIMIZER_GOAL parameter of the ALTER SESSION command ? What are the factors that affect OPTIMIZER in choosing an Optimization approach ?
Answer: Answer The OPTIMIZER_MODE initialization parameter Statistics in the Data Dictionary the OPTIMIZER_GOAL parameter of the ALTER SESSION command hints in the statement.
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58. What is the effect of setting the value “CHOOSE” for OPTIMIZER_GOAL, parameter of the ALTER SESSION Command ?
Answer: The Optimizer chooses Cost_based approach and optimizes with the goal of best throughput if statistics for atleast one of the tables accessed by the SQL statement exist in the data dictionary. Otherwise the OPTIMIZER chooses RULE_based approach.
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59. How does one create a new database? (for DBA)
Answer: One can create and modify Oracle databases using the Oracle “dbca” (Database Configuration Assistant) utility. The dbca utility is located in the $ORACLE_HOME/bin directory. The Oracle Universal Installer (oui) normally starts it after installing the database server software.
One can also create databases manually using scripts. This option, however, is falling out of fashion, as it is quite involved and error prone.
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60. What database block size should I use? (for DBA)
Answer: Oracle recommends that your database block size match, or be multiples of your operating system block size. One can use smaller block sizes, but the performance cost is significant. Your choice should depend on the type of application you are running. If you have many small transactions as with OLTP, use a smaller block size. With fewer but larger transactions, as with a DSS application, use a larger block size. If you are using a volume manager, consider your “operating system block size” to be
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61. What are the different approaches used by Optimizer in choosing an execution plan ?
Answer: Rule-based and Cost-based.
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62. What does ROLLBACK do ?
Answer: ROLLBACK retracts any of the changes resulting from the SQL statements in the transaction.
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63. How does one coalesce free space ? (for DBA)
Answer: SMON coalesces free space (extents) into larger, contiguous extents every 2 hours and even then, only for a short period of time.
SMON will not coalesce free space if a tablespaces default storage parameter “pctincrease” is set to 0. With Oracle 7.3 one
can manually coalesce a tablespace using the ALTER TABLESPACE … COALESCE; command, until then use:
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64. How does one prevent tablespace fragmentation? (for DBA)
Answer: Always set PCTINCREASE to 0 or 100.
Bizarre values for PCTINCREASE will contribute to fragmentation. For example if you set PCTINCREASE to 1 you will see that your extents are going to have weird and wacky sizes: 100K, 100K, 101K, 102K, etc. Such extents of bizarre size are rarely re-used in their entirety. PCTINCREASE of 0 or 100 gives you nice round extent sizes that can easily be reused. E.g.. 100K, 100K, 200K, 400K, etc.
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65. What is a database buffer cache in Oracle?
Answer: Use the same extent size for all the segments in a given tablespace. Locally Managed tablespaces (available from 8i onwards) with uniform extent sizes virtually eliminates any tablespace fragmentation. Note that the number of extents per segment does not cause any performance issue anymore, unless they run into thousands and thousands where additional I/O may be required to fetch the additional blocks where extent maps of the segment are stored.
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66. Where can one find the high water mark for a table? (for DBA)
Answer: There is no single system table, which contains the high water mark (HWM) for a table. A tables HWM can be calculated using the results from the following SQL statements:
SELECT BLOCKS
FROM DBA_SEGMENTS
WHERE OWNER=UPPER(owner) AND SEGMENT_NAME = UPPER(table);
ANALYZE TABLE owner.table ESTIMATE STATISTICS;
SELECT EMPTY_BLOCKS
FROM DBA_TABLES
WHERE OWNER=UPPER(owner) AND SEGMENT_NAME = UPPER(table);
Thus, the tables HWM = (query result 1) - (query result 2) - 1
NOTE: You can also use t
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67. What is COST-based approach to optimization ?
Answer: Considering available access paths and determining the most efficient execution plan based on statistics in the data dictionary for the tables accessed by the statement and their associated clusters and indexes.
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68. What does COMMIT do ?
Answer: COMMIT makes permanent the changes resulting from all SQL statements in the transaction. The changes made by the SQL statements of a transaction become visible to other user sessions transactions that start only after transaction is committed.
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69. How are extents allocated to a segment? (for DBA)
Answer: Oracle8 and above rounds off extents to a multiple of 5 blocks when more than 5 blocks are requested. If one requests 16K or 2 blocks (assuming a 8K block size), Oracle doesnt round it up to 5 blocks, but it allocates 2 blocks or 16K as requested. If one asks for 8 blocks, Oracle will round it up to 10 blocks.Space allocation also depends upon the size of contiguous free space available. If one asks for 8 blocks and Oracle finds a contiguous free space that is exactly 8 blocks, it would give it
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70. Name the data dictionary that stores user-defined constraints?
Answer: Can one rename a database user (schema)? (for DBA)
No, this is listed as Enhancement Request 158508. Workaround:
Do a user-level export of user A
create new user B
Import system/manager fromuser=A touser=B
Drop user A
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71. Define Transaction ?
Answer: A Transaction is a logical unit of work that comprises one or more SQL statements executed by a single user.
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72. What is Read-Only Transaction ?
Answer: A Read-Only transaction ensures that the results of each query executed in the transaction are consistant with respect to the same point in time.
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73. What is a deadlock ? Explain .
Answer: Two processes wating to update the rows of a table which are locked by the other process then deadlock arises. In a database environment this will often happen because of not issuing proper row lock commands. Poor design of front-end application may cause this situation and the performance of server will reduce drastically.These locks will be released automatically when a commit/rollback operation performed or any one of this processes being
killed externally.
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74. What is a Schema ?
Answer: The set of objects owned by user account is called the schema.
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75. What is a cluster Key ?
Answer: The related columns of the tables are called the cluster key. The cluster key is indexed using a cluster index and its value is stored only once for multiple tables in the cluster.
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76. What is clusters ?
Answer: Group of tables physically stored together because they share common columns and are often used together is called Cluster.
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77. What is an Index ? How it is implemented in Oracle Database ?
Answer: An index is a database structure used by the server to have direct access of a row in a table. An index is automatically created when a unique of primary key constraint clause is specified in create table comman (Ver 7.0)
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78. What is a Database instance ? Explain
Answer: A database instance (Server) is a set of memory structure and background processes that access a set of database files.The process can be shared by all users. The memory structure that are used to store most queried data from database. This helps up to improve database performance by decreasing the amount of I/O performed against data file.
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79. What is the use of ANALYZE command ?
Answer: To perform one of these function on an index, table, or cluster:
- To collect statistics about object used by the optimizer and store them in the data dictionary.
- To delete statistics about the object used by object from the data dictionary.
- To validate the structure of the object.
- To identify migrated and chained rows of the table or cluster.
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80. What is default tablespace ?
Answer: The Tablespace to contain schema objects created without specifying a tablespace name.
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81. What are the system resources that can be controlled through Profile ?
Answer: The number of concurrent sessions the user can establish the CPU processing time available to the users session the CPU processing time available to a single call to ORACLE made by a SQL statement the amount of logical I/O available to the users session the amout of logical I/O available to a single call to ORACLE made by a SQL statement the allowed amount of
idle time for the users session the allowed amount of connect time for the users session.
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82. What is Tablespace Quota ?
Answer: The collective amount of disk space available to the objects in a schema on a particular tablespace.
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83. What are the different Levels of Auditing ?
Answer: Statement Auditing, Privilege Auditing and Object Auditing.
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84. What is Statement Auditing ?
Answer: Statement auditing is the auditing of the powerful system privileges without regard to specifically named objects.
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85. What are the database administrators utilities available ?
Answer: SQL * DBA - This allows DBA to monitor and control an ORACLE database. SQL * Loader - It loads data from standard operating system files (Flat files) into ORACLE database tables. Export (EXP) and Import (imp) utilities allow you to move existing data in ORACLE format to and from ORACLE database.
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86. How can you enable automatic archiving ?
Answer: Shut the database
Backup the database
Modify/Include LOG_ARCHIVE_START_TRUE in init.ora file.
Start up the database.
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87. What are roles? How can we implement roles ?
Answer: Roles are the easiest way to grant and manage common privileges needed by different groups of database users. Creating roles and assigning provides to roles. Assign each role to group of users. This will simplify the job of assigning privileges to individual users.
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88. What are Roles ?
Answer: Roles are named groups of related privileges that are granted to users or other roles.
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89. What are the use of Roles ?
Answer: REDUCED GRANTING OF PRIVILEGES - Rather than explicitly granting the same set of privileges to many users a database
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90. What is Privilege Auditing ?
Answer: Privilege auditing is the auditing of the use of powerful system privileges without regard to specifically named objects.
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91. What is Object Auditing ?
Answer: Object auditing is the auditing of accesses to specific schema objects without regard to user.
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92. What is Auditing ?
Answer: Monitoring of user access to aid in the investigation of database use.
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93. What is a snapshot?
Answer: Where are my TEMPFILES, I dont see them in V$DATAFILE or DBA_DATA_FILE? (for DBA )
Tempfiles, unlike normal datafiles, are not listed in v$datafile or dba_data_files. Instead query v$tempfile or
dba_temp_files:
SELECT * FROM v$tempfile;
SELECT * FROM dba_temp_files;
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94. How do I find used/free space in a TEMPORARY tablespace? (for DBA )
Answer: Unlike normal tablespaces, true temporary tablespace information is not listed in DBA_FREE_SPACE. Instead use the V$TEMP_SPACE_HEADER view:SELECT tablespace_name, SUM (bytes used), SUM (bytes free)
FROM V$temp_space_header
GROUP BY tablespace_name;
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95. What is a profile ?
Answer: Each database user is assigned a Profile that specifies limitations on various system resources available to the user.
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96. How will you enforce security using stored procedures?
Answer: Dont grant user access directly to tables within the application. Instead grant the ability to access the procedures that access the tables. When procedure executed it will execute the privilege of procedures owner. Users cannot access tables except via the procedure.
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97. What is a sequence?
Answer: How does one get the view definition of fixed views/tables?
Query v$fixed_view_definition. Example: SELECT * FROM v$fixed_view_definition WHERE view_name=V$SESSION;
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98. What are the dictionary tables used to monitor a database spaces ?
Answer: DBA_FREE_SPACE
DBA_SEGMENTS
DBA_DATA_FILES.
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99. How can we specify the Archived log file name format and destination?
Answer: By setting the following values in init.ora file. LOG_ARCHIVE_FORMAT = arch %S/s/T/tarc (%S - Log sequence number and is zero
left paded, %s - Log sequence number not padded. %T - Thread number lef-zero-paded and %t - Thread number not padded). The file name created is arch 0001 are if %S is used. LOG_ARCHIVE_DEST = path.
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100. What is user Account in Oracle database?
Answer: An user account is not a physical structure in Database but it is having important relationship to the objects in the database and will be having certain privileges.
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101. When will the data in the snapshot log be used?
Answer: We must be able to create a after row trigger on table (i.e., it should be not be already available) After giving table privileges. We cannot specify snapshot log name because oracle uses the name of the master table in the name of the database objects that support its snapshot log. The master table name should be less than or equal to 23 characters. (The table name created will be MLOGS_tablename, and trigger name will be TLOGS name).
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102. What dynamic data replication?
Answer: Updating or Inserting records in remote database through database triggers. It may fail if remote database is having any problem.
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103. What is Two-Phase Commit ?
Answer: Two-phase commit is mechanism that guarantees a distributed transaction either commits on all involved nodes or rolls back on all involved nodes to maintain data consistency across the global distributed database. It has two phase, a Prepare Phase and a Commit Phase.
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104. How can you Enforce Referential Integrity in snapshots ?
Answer: Time the references to occur when master tables are not in use. Peform the reference the manually immdiately locking the master tables. We can join tables in snopshots by creating a complex snapshots that will based on the master tables.
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105. What is a SQL * NET?
Answer: SQL *NET is ORACLEs mechanism for interfacing with the communication protocols used by the networks that facilitate distributed processing and distributed databases. It is used in Clint-Server and Server-Server communications.
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106. What is a SNAPSHOT ?
Answer: Snapshots are read-only copies of a master table located on a remote node which is periodically refreshed to reflect changes made to the master table.
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107. What is the mechanism provided by ORACLE for table replication ?
Answer: Snapshots and SNAPSHOT LOGs
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108. What is snapshots?
Answer: Snapshot is an object used to dynamically replicate data between distribute database at specified time intervals. In ver 7.0 they are read only.
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110. Describe two phases of Two-phase commit ?
Answer: Prepare phase - The global coordinator (initiating node) ask a participants to prepare (to promise to commit or rollback the transaction, even if there is a failure) Commit - Phase - If all participants respond to the coordinator that they are prepared, the coordinator asks all nodes to commit the transaction, if all participants cannot prepare, the coordinator asks all nodes to roll back the transaction.
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112. What is snapshot log ?
Answer: It is a table that maintains a record of modifications to the master table in a snapshot. It is stored in the same database as master table and is only available for simple snapshots. It should be created before creating snapshots.
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113. What are the benefits of distributed options in databases?
Answer: Database on other servers can be updated and those transactions can be grouped together with others in a logical unit.
Database uses a two phase commit.
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