Join orders and clicks to find DAU/MAU ratio

Last updated: February 13, 2026

Quick Overview

Write a query joining orders and orders to produce the combined DAU/MAU ratio.

Zscaler
Data Manipulation (SQL/Python)
Data Scientist
Zscaler
February 13, 2026
Data Scientist
Take-home Project
Data Manipulation (SQL/Python)
Hard

28

6

3,009 solved


Write a query joining orders and orders to produce the combined DAU/MAU ratio.

This question from Zscaler's Take-home Project tests practical data skills. The interviewer wants to see clean, efficient queries that handle edge cases like NULLs, duplicates, and large datasets.

What the Interviewer Expects
  • Solve complex analytical problems with elegant, readable SQL
  • Optimize queries for large-scale datasets with partitioning and indexing
  • Use recursive CTEs, lateral joins, and advanced window functions
  • Design the data model alongside the query solution
  • Discuss trade-offs between SQL and programmatic approaches (Python/pandas)
  • Consider the operational aspects: query scheduling, incremental processing
Key Topics to Cover
Aggregate functions and GROUP BY
Index optimization and query performance
Subqueries and correlated subqueries
Data cleaning and transformation
How to Approach This
  1. Clarify the schema and expected output format before writing queries.
  2. Use CTEs (WITH clauses) to break complex queries into readable steps.
  3. Consider window functions (ROW_NUMBER, RANK, LAG, LEAD) for ranking and sequential analysis.
  4. Watch for NULLs, duplicates, and edge cases in JOINs and GROUP BY.
  5. For pandas, prefer vectorized operations over row-by-row iteration.
Possible Follow-up Questions
  • How would you handle slowly changing dimensions in this scenario?
  • How would you validate the correctness of your query results?
  • What indexes would you create to support this query?
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