Palantir Data Engineering Certification Exam
Prep (2025): 100 Practice Questions with
Detailed Answers & Rationales”
1. What is Palantir Foundry primarily designed for?
A) Cloud cost optimization
B) End-to-end data integration, modeling, and operational workflows
C) Social media analytics only
D) File storage
,,,correct answer,,,: B) End-to-end data integration, modeling, and operational
workflows
Rationale: Foundry is a platform for integrating data from multiple systems,
building pipelines, modeling ontologies, and operationalizing analytics.
2. In Foundry, what is an Ontology?
A) A SQL query
B) A set of APIs
C) A semantic data model defining entities, relationships, and attributes
D) A dashboard view
,,,correct answer,,,: C) A semantic data model defining entities, relationships,
and attributes
,Rationale: Ontologies in Foundry represent a unified semantic layer that
allows business users to query data meaningfully.
3. Foundry Code Repositories (Code Repos) are used for:
A) Designing BI dashboards
B) Writing custom logic in Python, Java, or Spark for ETL pipelines
C) Managing user permissions
D) File storage only
,,,correct answer,,,: B) Writing custom logic in Python, Java, or Spark
Rationale: Code Repos allow engineers to create pipelines and
transformations using familiar programming languages.
4. Which of the following best describes Palantir’s data pipeline execution
model?
A) Sequential batch only
B) Both batch and streaming capabilities
C) Only manual execution
D) Limited to Excel exports
,,,correct answer,,,: B) Both batch and streaming capabilities
Rationale: Foundry supports streaming and batch pipelines, enabling real-
time and scheduled workflows.
5. What is a primary benefit of using a Foundry Ontology for end users?
A) Requires writing Spark code for queries
B) Provides a low-code interface for data exploration
C) Replaces all relational databases
D) Only used by engineers
,,,correct answer,,,: B) Provides a low-code interface for data exploration
Rationale: Ontologies make data understandable for analysts and business
users without deep technical knowledge.
,6. Foundry Transformations are:
A) Manual Excel macros
B) Defined logic that converts source data into curated datasets
C) Only used for machine learning
D) Static diagrams
,,,correct answer,,,: B) Defined logic that converts source data into curated
datasets
Rationale: Transformations are reusable pipeline steps to clean, join, and
aggregate data.
7. What is Palantir’s recommended approach to schema evolution?
A) Make breaking changes in production
B) Use version-controlled datasets and transformations
C) Drop old data tables
D) Avoid schema changes entirely
,,,correct answer,,,: B) Use version-controlled datasets and transformations
Rationale: Foundry encourages version control to maintain reproducibility
and auditability when schemas change.
8. How does Foundry ensure data lineage visibility?
A) By requiring manual documentation
B) Through automatic dependency graphs showing upstream and
downstream datasets
C) By using third-party plugins
D) Not supported
,,,correct answer,,,: B) Automatic dependency graphs
Rationale: Foundry automatically tracks lineage, making it easier to debug
data flows.
, 9. Which is an example of a typical Palantir Foundry “entity” in an Ontology?
A) Machine learning model
B) Customer or product
C) SQL function
D) Docker container
,,,correct answer,,,: B) Customer or product
Rationale: Entities represent real-world objects (customers, assets, orders)
modeled semantically.
10. When integrating data from multiple systems, Foundry promotes:
A) ETL only
B) ELT (Extract, Load, Transform) pattern
C) Manual CSV uploads
D) In-memory processing only
,,,correct answer,,,: B) ELT pattern
Rationale: Foundry loads raw data first, then transforms it with pipelines for
scalability and traceability.
11. Which Foundry feature allows business users to interact with data without
writing code?
A) Contour (Ontology exploration UI)
B) Spark clusters
C) Git repositories
D) Kubernetes
,,,correct answer,,,: A) Contour
Rationale: Contour provides a no-code UI for exploring Ontologies, enabling
decision-making.
12. Palantir Foundry emphasizes data governance through:
Prep (2025): 100 Practice Questions with
Detailed Answers & Rationales”
1. What is Palantir Foundry primarily designed for?
A) Cloud cost optimization
B) End-to-end data integration, modeling, and operational workflows
C) Social media analytics only
D) File storage
,,,correct answer,,,: B) End-to-end data integration, modeling, and operational
workflows
Rationale: Foundry is a platform for integrating data from multiple systems,
building pipelines, modeling ontologies, and operationalizing analytics.
2. In Foundry, what is an Ontology?
A) A SQL query
B) A set of APIs
C) A semantic data model defining entities, relationships, and attributes
D) A dashboard view
,,,correct answer,,,: C) A semantic data model defining entities, relationships,
and attributes
,Rationale: Ontologies in Foundry represent a unified semantic layer that
allows business users to query data meaningfully.
3. Foundry Code Repositories (Code Repos) are used for:
A) Designing BI dashboards
B) Writing custom logic in Python, Java, or Spark for ETL pipelines
C) Managing user permissions
D) File storage only
,,,correct answer,,,: B) Writing custom logic in Python, Java, or Spark
Rationale: Code Repos allow engineers to create pipelines and
transformations using familiar programming languages.
4. Which of the following best describes Palantir’s data pipeline execution
model?
A) Sequential batch only
B) Both batch and streaming capabilities
C) Only manual execution
D) Limited to Excel exports
,,,correct answer,,,: B) Both batch and streaming capabilities
Rationale: Foundry supports streaming and batch pipelines, enabling real-
time and scheduled workflows.
5. What is a primary benefit of using a Foundry Ontology for end users?
A) Requires writing Spark code for queries
B) Provides a low-code interface for data exploration
C) Replaces all relational databases
D) Only used by engineers
,,,correct answer,,,: B) Provides a low-code interface for data exploration
Rationale: Ontologies make data understandable for analysts and business
users without deep technical knowledge.
,6. Foundry Transformations are:
A) Manual Excel macros
B) Defined logic that converts source data into curated datasets
C) Only used for machine learning
D) Static diagrams
,,,correct answer,,,: B) Defined logic that converts source data into curated
datasets
Rationale: Transformations are reusable pipeline steps to clean, join, and
aggregate data.
7. What is Palantir’s recommended approach to schema evolution?
A) Make breaking changes in production
B) Use version-controlled datasets and transformations
C) Drop old data tables
D) Avoid schema changes entirely
,,,correct answer,,,: B) Use version-controlled datasets and transformations
Rationale: Foundry encourages version control to maintain reproducibility
and auditability when schemas change.
8. How does Foundry ensure data lineage visibility?
A) By requiring manual documentation
B) Through automatic dependency graphs showing upstream and
downstream datasets
C) By using third-party plugins
D) Not supported
,,,correct answer,,,: B) Automatic dependency graphs
Rationale: Foundry automatically tracks lineage, making it easier to debug
data flows.
, 9. Which is an example of a typical Palantir Foundry “entity” in an Ontology?
A) Machine learning model
B) Customer or product
C) SQL function
D) Docker container
,,,correct answer,,,: B) Customer or product
Rationale: Entities represent real-world objects (customers, assets, orders)
modeled semantically.
10. When integrating data from multiple systems, Foundry promotes:
A) ETL only
B) ELT (Extract, Load, Transform) pattern
C) Manual CSV uploads
D) In-memory processing only
,,,correct answer,,,: B) ELT pattern
Rationale: Foundry loads raw data first, then transforms it with pipelines for
scalability and traceability.
11. Which Foundry feature allows business users to interact with data without
writing code?
A) Contour (Ontology exploration UI)
B) Spark clusters
C) Git repositories
D) Kubernetes
,,,correct answer,,,: A) Contour
Rationale: Contour provides a no-code UI for exploring Ontologies, enabling
decision-making.
12. Palantir Foundry emphasizes data governance through:
