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What is the difference between external and internal tables in Hive?

Spark/Big Dataeasy0.4 min readPremium
Frequency
Low
Asked at 1 company
Category
452
questions in Spark/Big Data
Difficulty Split
88E|81M|283H
in this category
Total Bank
1,863
across 7 categories
Asked at these companies
Dunnhumby
Key Concepts Tested
spark
Expert AnswerPremium
77 wordsInterview-ready
**Internal (Managed)**: Hive owns data. DROP TABLE deletes data. Warehouse directory. **External**: Data outside Hive. DROP TABLE removes only metadata; data persists. LOCATION specified. **When External**: Raw data, staged data, shared with other systems (Spark, Presto). Retention requirements. **When Internal**: Hive-only temp, derived tables. Hive controls lifecycle. **Scalability Trade-offs**: External = no accidental data loss on DROP....
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