Multiple choice technology databases

To produce a meaningful result set without any cartesian products, what is the minimum number of conditions that should appear in the WHERE clause of a four-table join?

  1. 8

  2. 3

  3. 2

  4. 4
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B Correct answer
Explanation

When joining N tables, you need at least N-1 join conditions to avoid Cartesian products. For 4 tables, this means 3 join conditions minimum. Each condition should properly link two tables, creating a connected join structure. With fewer conditions, some tables would remain unconnected, producing cross products.

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