Data types in Snowflake - Interactive Code Practice

Practice - 5 Tasks

1fill in blank

easy

Complete the code to create a table with a column that stores whole numbers.

Snowflake

CREATE TABLE employees (id [1]);

Drag options to blanks, or click blank then click option'

ADATE

BVARCHAR

CBOOLEAN

DINTEGER

Attempts:

3 left

💡 Hint

Common Mistakes

Using VARCHAR for numbers causes errors when performing math.

BOOLEAN is for true/false values, not numbers.

The INTEGER data type stores whole numbers in Snowflake.

2fill in blank

medium

Complete the code to define a column that stores text data.

Snowflake

CREATE TABLE products (name [1]);

Drag options to blanks, or click blank then click option'

AVARCHAR

BINTEGER

CFLOAT

DBOOLEAN

Attempts:

3 left

💡 Hint

Common Mistakes

Using INTEGER for text causes errors.

FLOAT is for decimal numbers, not text.

The VARCHAR data type stores text or string data in Snowflake.

3fill in blank

hard

Fix the error in the code to store true/false values correctly.

Snowflake

CREATE TABLE settings (is_active [1]);

Drag options to blanks, or click blank then click option'

AINTEGER

BVARCHAR

CBOOLEAN

DDATE

Attempts:

3 left

💡 Hint

Common Mistakes

Using VARCHAR stores text 'true' or 'false' but not boolean values.

INTEGER cannot represent true/false directly.

The BOOLEAN data type stores true or false values in Snowflake.

4fill in blank

hard

Fill both blanks to create a table with a date and a decimal number column.

Snowflake

CREATE TABLE sales (sale_date [1], amount [2]);

Drag options to blanks, or click blank then click option'

ADATE

BFLOAT

CBOOLEAN

DVARCHAR

Attempts:

3 left

💡 Hint

Common Mistakes

Using VARCHAR for dates or numbers causes errors.

BOOLEAN is not suitable for dates or decimal numbers.

DATE stores dates, and FLOAT stores decimal numbers in Snowflake.

5fill in blank

hard

Fill all three blanks to create a table with an integer, text, and boolean column.

Snowflake

CREATE TABLE users (user_id [1], username [2], is_verified [3]);

Drag options to blanks, or click blank then click option'

AVARCHAR

BBOOLEAN

CINTEGER

DDATE

Attempts:

3 left

💡 Hint

Common Mistakes

Mixing up data types causes errors or wrong data storage.

Using DATE for username or boolean fields is incorrect.

INTEGER for user IDs, VARCHAR for usernames, and BOOLEAN for verification status.

Practice

1. Which Snowflake data type is best suited to store true or false values?

easy

A. BOOLEAN

B. VARCHAR

C. NUMBER

D. DATE

Solution

1. Step 1: Understand the purpose of BOOLEAN data type

   BOOLEAN is designed to store logical values: true or false.

2. Step 2: Compare with other data types

   VARCHAR stores text, NUMBER stores numbers, and DATE stores dates, none are for true/false.

3. Final Answer:

   BOOLEAN -> Option A

4. Quick Check:

   True/False = BOOLEAN [OK]

Hint: True/false values always use BOOLEAN type [OK]

Common Mistakes:

• Choosing VARCHAR for true/false values
• Using NUMBER to represent logical states
• Confusing DATE with BOOLEAN

2. Which of the following is the correct way to declare a VARCHAR column with a maximum length of 100 characters in Snowflake?

easy

A. VARCHAR{100}

B. VARCHAR100

C. VARCHAR[100]

D. VARCHAR(100)

Solution

1. Step 1: Recall Snowflake syntax for VARCHAR

   Snowflake uses parentheses to specify length, e.g., VARCHAR(100).

2. Step 2: Identify incorrect syntax

   Options with brackets or no parentheses are invalid in Snowflake.

3. Final Answer:

   VARCHAR(100) -> Option D

4. Quick Check:

   Length in parentheses = VARCHAR(100) [OK]

Hint: Use parentheses for length in VARCHAR [OK]

Common Mistakes:

• Using brackets or braces instead of parentheses
• Omitting parentheses for length
• Writing VARCHAR100 as one word

3. What will be the result of this Snowflake SQL query?

SELECT CAST('2024-06-15' AS DATE) AS my_date;

medium

A. 2024-06-15

B. '2024-06-15'

C. Error: Invalid cast

D. NULL

Solution

1. Step 1: Understand CAST to DATE

   CAST converts a string in 'YYYY-MM-DD' format to a DATE type in Snowflake.

2. Step 2: Check the output format

   The DATE value is returned as 2024-06-15 without quotes.

3. Final Answer:

   2024-06-15 -> Option A

4. Quick Check:

   CAST string 'YYYY-MM-DD' to DATE = date value [OK]

Hint: CAST string 'YYYY-MM-DD' to DATE returns date value [OK]

Common Mistakes:

• Expecting quotes around the date output
• Thinking CAST causes error for valid date strings
• Assuming NULL if format looks like a string

4. You try to insert into a table with this column definition:

price NUMBER(5,2)

But Snowflake gives an error. What is the likely cause?

medium

A. The scale (2) cannot be greater than precision (5)

B. NUMBER(5,2) is invalid syntax in Snowflake

C. NUMBER(5,2) means 5 digits total, 2 after decimal, so max 999.99 allowed

D. NUMBER cannot have scale and precision specified

Solution

1. Step 1: Understand NUMBER(precision, scale)

   Precision is total digits, scale is digits after decimal.

2. Step 2: Calculate max value for NUMBER(5,2)

   Max number is 999.99 (3 digits before decimal, 2 after).

3. Final Answer:

   NUMBER(5,2) means 5 digits total, 2 after decimal, so max 999.99 allowed -> Option C

4. Quick Check:

   Precision=5, Scale=2 means max 999.99 [OK]

Hint: Precision includes all digits; scale is decimal digits [OK]

Common Mistakes:

• Thinking NUMBER(5,2) syntax is invalid
• Confusing precision and scale order
• Assuming scale can be greater than precision

5. You want to store a timestamp with timezone in Snowflake. Which data type should you use to keep both date, time, and timezone information?

hard

A. TIMESTAMP_NTZ

B. TIMESTAMP_TZ

C. DATE

D. VARCHAR

Solution

1. Step 1: Review Snowflake timestamp types

   TIMESTAMP_NTZ stores timestamp without timezone; TIMESTAMP_TZ stores with timezone.

2. Step 2: Identify correct type for timezone info

   Only TIMESTAMP_TZ keeps timezone data along with date and time.

3. Final Answer:

   TIMESTAMP_TZ -> Option B

4. Quick Check:

   Timestamp with timezone = TIMESTAMP_TZ [OK]

Hint: Use TIMESTAMP_TZ for timezone-aware timestamps [OK]

Common Mistakes:

• Choosing TIMESTAMP_NTZ which ignores timezone
• Using DATE which lacks time info
• Storing timestamps as VARCHAR