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How would you handle a schema change when new files arrive?

System Design/Architectureeasy0.2 min readPremium
Frequency
Low
Asked at 1 company
Category
179
questions in System Design/Architecture
Difficulty Split
15E|6M|158H
in this category
Total Bank
1,863
across 7 categories
Asked at these companies
Delivery Hero
Interview Pro Tip

Pro-Move: 'New column "region" arrived. Pipeline added with default null. Backfill job for historical. Both versions supported for 2 weeks.'

Expert AnswerPremium
34 wordsInterview-ready
**Approach**: (1) Evolution—additive; new columns default; (2) Validation—quarantine unknowns; (3) Versioning—tag files; (4) mergeSchema=True for Parquet; (5) Migration—support old+new; update consumers. Schema registry for contracts; coordinate with producers....
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According to DataEngPrep.tech, this is one of the most frequently asked System Design/Architecture interview questions, reported at 1 company. DataEngPrep.tech maintains a curated database of 1,863+ real data engineering interview questions across 7 categories, verified by industry professionals.

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