What is the difference between SparkSession and SparkContext in Spark?
Spark/Big Datahard
2
Can you explain the architecture of Apache Spark and its components?
Spark/Big Datahard
3
Describe the difference between Spark RDDs, DataFrames, and Datasets.
Spark/Big Datahard
4
How does Spark's Catalyst Optimizer work? Explain its stages.
Spark/Big Datahard
5
How do you handle late-arriving data in Spark Structured Streaming?
Spark/Big Datahard
6
What is the small-file problem in Spark, and how do you solve it?
Spark/Big Datahard
7
How do you optimize Spark jobs for better performance? Mention at least 5 techniques.
Spark/Big Datahard
8
Architecturally, how would you justify or challenge Hadoop vs. a cloud-native data lake (S3 + EMR/Databricks) for a greenfield enterprise data platform? Discuss scalability ceilings, cost model trade-offs, and operational complexity.
Spark/Big Datahard
+20 More Questions with Expert Answers
Get the complete 1,800+ question library with detailed, expert-level answers covering SQL, Spark, System Design, Python, Cloud, and Behavioral topics.