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Explain the difference between a fact table and a dimension table.

SQLmedium0.3 min readPremium
Frequency
Low
Asked at 1 company
Category
487
questions in SQL
Difficulty Split
130E|271M|86H
in this category
Total Bank
1,863
across 7 categories
Asked at these companies
Gartner
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Expert AnswerPremium
64 wordsInterview-ready
**Architectural Logic**: Fact = measures; dimension = context—different roles in star schema. **Fact**: Quantitative (amount, qty); FKs to dimensions; large, narrow; business events. **Dimension**: Descriptive (name, category); PKs for joins; smaller, wide; context (who, what, where, when). **Example**: fact_sales (amount, qty) + dim_product (name, category), dim_date. **Best Practice**: Fact for metrics; dimension for filtering/grouping. Surrogate keys in dimensions; conformed across facts....
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