Important Notes:
- Variations in Phrasing: Similar questions with slightly different wording are grouped under one common theme.
- Multi-Part Questions: If a concept is part of a larger multi-part question, it's counted as an occurrence for that concept.
- "Refer to Question X": The count is based on the original question being referred to.
Most Asked Questions in WBUT Exams (Sorted from Maximum to Minimum Occurrences)
✅1. Question: Define BCNF. How does it differ from 3NF? Why is it considered a stronger form than 3NF? OR, Explain with example “BCNF is stricter than 3NF”. OR, How does BCNF differ from 3rd normal form?
* Frequency: 8 times
* WBUT Levels: [WBUT 2007], [WBUT 2009], [WBUT 2010], [WBUT 2011], [WBUT 2012], [WBUT 2015], [WBUT 2016], [WBUT 2019]
✅2. Question: Describe ACID properties in DBMS. OR, What is ACID property? OR, Discuss the ACID properties of a Database transaction. OR, Explain the ACID properties of transactions. OR, Discuss the ACID properties of transactions.
* Frequency: 7 times (excluding MCQs)
* WBUT Levels: [WBUT 2007], [WBUT 2009], [WBUT 2013], [WBUT 2015], [WBUT 2016], [WBUT 2017], [WBUT 2019]
✅3. Question: What is two-phase locking protocol? How does it guarantee serializability? OR, Briefly explain two phase locking protocol. OR, Describe different 2PL protocol in brief.
* Frequency: 6 times
* WBUT Levels: [WBUT 2008], [WBUT 2012], [WBUT 2017] (appears twice), [WBUT 2015], [WBUT 2018]
✅4. Question: Explain the terms Candidate key, Primary key, Foreign key, and Super key. OR, Explain with example super key, candidate key and primary key. OR, Explain with examples the term super key, candidate key, primary key and alternate key. OR, Define super key, candidate key and primary key.
* Frequency: 5 times
* WBUT Levels: [WBUT 2006], [WBUT 2013], [WBUT 2015], [WBUT 2017], [WBUT 2019]
✅5. Question: What are the roles of the Analysis, Redo and Undo phases in the recovery algorithm ‘ARIES’?.
* Frequency: 5 times
* WBUT Levels: [WBUT 2010], [WBUT 2011], [WBUT 2013], [WBUT 2014], [WBUT 2019]
✅6. Question: What is Data dictionary? OR, What do you mean by data dictionary? Why is the data dictionary required in RDBMS?
* Frequency: 5 times (This includes the short answer question "What is Data dictionary?" and the more detailed long answer ones).
* WBUT Levels: [WBUT 2007], [WBUT 2015], [WBUT 2016], [WBUT 2017], [WBUT 2019]
✅7. Question: Describe the wait-die and wound-wait protocols for deadlock prevention.
* Frequency: 5 times
* WBUT Levels: [WBUT 2007], [WBUT 2010], [WBUT 2011], [WBUT 2013], [WBUT 2019]
✅8. Question: What are the four main differences between a file-processing system and a DBMS? OR, Distinguish between file management system and database management system. OR, What are the advantages of database over traditional file system?
* Frequency: 4 times
* WBUT Levels: [WBUT 2006], [WBUT 2009], [WBUT 2017], [WBUT 2018]
✅9. Question: Describe the three-schema architecture. OR, Explain in brief 3-schema architecture of DBMS. OR, Describe three layer architecture of DBMS. OR, Describe Three-Schema architecture of DBMS.
* Frequency: 4 times
* WBUT Levels: [WBUT 2006], [WBUT 2013] (appears twice with different phrasing), [WBUT 2015]
✅10. Question: What are the main functions of a database manager? List five major functions of Data Base Administrator. OR, Explain the roles of a database administrator (DBA). OR, Discuss the role of DBA. OR, Explain the role of database administrator?
* Frequency: 4 times
* WBUT Levels: [WBUT 2006], [WBUT 2009], [WBUT 2017], [WBUT 2018]
✅11. Question: Discuss the entity integrity and referential integrity constraints. Why is each considered important? Explain with suitable example.
* Frequency: 3 times (excluding variations focused only on "importance")
* WBUT Levels: [WBUT 2008], [WBUT 2010], [WBUT 2012]
✅12. Question: Use the definition of functional dependency to argue that each of Armstrong’s axioms (reflexivity, augmentation, transitivity, union and decomposition) is sound.
* Frequency: 3 times
* WBUT Levels: [WBUT 2008], [WBUT 2010], [WBUT 2012]
✅13. Question: Explain the difference between weak entity set and strong entity set. OR, Explain with example the difference between strong and weak entity sets.
* Frequency: 3 times
* WBUT Levels: [WBUT 2006], [WBUT 2010], [WBUT 2019]
✅14. Question: What is lossless decomposition? OR, Give an example of table decomposition which is not lossless. OR, What do you mean by lossless (or non-additive) join property of decomposition?
* Frequency: 3 times
* WBUT Levels: [WBUT 2011], [WBUT 2013], [WBUT 2014]
✅15. Question: What is the single most significant difference between two-phase locking and the time-stamping technique concurrency control? Explain briefly.
* Frequency: 3 times
* WBUT Levels: [WBUT 2014], [WBUT 2016], [WBUT 2019]
✅16. Question: Write the difference between procedural and non-procedural DML. OR, What is the difference between procedural and non-procedural DML?
* Frequency: 3 times
* WBUT Levels: [WBUT 2006], [WBUT 2013], [WBUT 2017]
✅17. Question: A specific scenario is given, often involving an organization, system, or company (e.g., Supreme Products, a ZOO, a Technical University, or a Hospital), and students are asked to: i) Identify entities, attributes and relationship. ii) Draw an E-R diagram. iii) Convert this to relational tables.
* Frequency: 4 times (This type of comprehensive ER modeling question appears with different scenarios).
* WBUT Levels (for this type): [WBUT 2011], [WBUT 2014], [WBUT 2015], [WBUT 2016]
✅18. Question: Consider the following relations/database schema... and write queries in SQL/Relational Algebra for given tasks. (The specific tables and tasks vary, but the format is consistent).
* Frequency: At least 6-7 times (This type of question is a staple, appearing practically every year in some form with different schemas and tasks. Hard to give an exact count for identical phrasing).
* WBUT Levels (General Type): [WBUT 2006, 2008], [WBUT 2010, 2012], [WBUT 2015], [WBUT 2016, 2017], [WBUT 2018] (Various similar schemas for SQL/RA questions)
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