Snowflake Certification Practice Test

Are micro-partitions in Snowflake mutable?

1. Yes, they can be modified

2. No, they are immutable

3. They can be deleted but not modified

4. Only metadata can be changed

The correct answer is: No, they are immutable

Micro-partitions in Snowflake are designed to be immutable, meaning that once they are created, their contents cannot be modified. This immutability is a crucial aspect of Snowflake's architecture because it enhances performance and efficiency when querying data. By not allowing modifications to the micro-partitions, Snowflake can more easily manage storage and optimize query performance through features such as automatic clustering and efficient data retrieval. The immutability of micro-partitions is also key to maintaining data integrity, ensuring that once data is stored, it remains consistent and protected against accidental changes. This design choice facilitates the implementation of features like time travel and fail-safe, which allow users to access historical data and recover from errors. While users can delete micro-partitions if they are no longer needed (as suggested by other options), the actual data within each partition cannot be altered after its initial write. This inherent property of micro-partitions is what distinguishes them within the Snowflake architecture and significantly impacts data management and querying strategies.