Database / SQLite Interview questions

What is a TRIGGER in SQLite?

A TRIGGER is a piece of SQL logic that runs automatically in response to a specific table event — INSERT, UPDATE, or DELETE — either before or after that event occurs, without the application needing to explicitly call anything.

CREATE TRIGGER update_timestamp
AFTER UPDATE ON person
BEGIN
    UPDATE person SET updated_at = CURRENT_TIMESTAMP WHERE id = NEW.id;
END;

Common uses: automatically maintaining an "updated at" timestamp, enforcing business rules that go beyond what a simple constraint can express, logging changes to an audit table, or cascading a change to related data. Triggers run inside the same transaction as the statement that fired them, so if the trigger's logic fails, the whole original operation is rolled back along with it.

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When does a TRIGGER run? Only when explicitly called by application code

✗ Not quite. Try again.

Automatically in response to a table event like INSERT, UPDATE, or DELETE

✓ Correct! Well done.

Only once, when the table is first created

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What happens if a trigger's logic fails? Only the trigger's own changes are rolled back

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The whole original operation that fired the trigger is rolled back too, since they share a transaction

✓ Correct! Well done.

Nothing; trigger failures are always silently ignored

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Database / SQLite Interview questions

What is a TRIGGER in SQLite?

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