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    Indexing and B+ Trees PYQs for GATE DA

    Solve 3+ Indexing and B+ Trees previous year questions for GATE DA with answers and detailed solutions. Free sample questions below.

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    Question 1
    2026 PYQ
    In a relational database, a B+ Tree Index is to be constructed for a relation on a key field. In a B+ Tree, a Node Pointer points to a sub-tree and a Data Record Pointer points to a block of database records.

    Let, Node size = 4096 bytes, Node Pointer size = 10 bytes, Search Key Field size = 11 bytes and Data Record Pointer size = 12 bytes.

    The maximum number of Node Pointers that can be present in a non-leaf node of the B+ Tree is ________ . (Answer in integer)
    Question 2
    2026 PYQ
    Consider a B+ Tree where the maximum number of key values in each leaf node is 2 and the maximum number of pointers in each non-leaf node is 3. Let the content of the B+ Tree be as shown in the figure.

    5 8 1 5 7 8 9 12 NULL

    Which of the following options denotes the key value(s) stored in the root node after inserting a key value 3 in the given B+ Tree?
    Question 3
    2024 PYQ
    An OTT company is maintaining a large disk-based relational database of different
    movies with the following schema:

    Movie(ID, CustomerRating)
    Genre(ID, Name)
    Movie_Genre(MovieID, GenreID)

    Consider the following SQL query on the relation database above:

    SELECT *
    FROM Movie, Genre, Movie_Genre
    WHERE
    Movie.CustomerRating > 3.4 AND
    Genre.Name = “Comedy” AND
    Movie_Genre.MovieID = Movie.ID AND
    Movie_Genre.GenreID = Genre.ID;

    This SQL query can be sped up using which of the following indexing options?
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    Indexing and B+ Trees PYQs for GATE DA

    Solve 3+ Indexing and B+ Trees previous year questions for GATE DA with answers and detailed solutions. Free sample questions below.

    Chapter Roadmap: Indexing and B+ Trees

    Chapter Journey

    1. B+ Tree Structure, Insertion and Fanout Calculation
    Current Topic • High Importance • Foundation for all indexing and disk I/O questions
    2. Index Selection for SQL Query Processing
    Upcoming • Moderate Importance • Applies B+ tree mechanics to query execution plans
    What you will master: Deriving node capacity limits from block sizes, executing step-by-step B+ tree insertions, and avoiding classic split traps.

    Why B+ Trees? The Core Intuition

    The Disk I/O Problem

    Database systems minimize slow disk accesses by reading data in fixed-size blocks (or pages). A good index must minimize the number of blocks read to find a record.

    Why Not Binary Search Trees?

    A binary tree has a maximum of two children per node. For a million records, the height is around 20, meaning up to 20 disk reads. This is inefficient.

    The B+ Tree Solution

    1. High Fanout: Each node can hold hundreds of keys, drastically reducing the tree height (typically to 3 or 4 levels for millions of records).
    2. Balanced: All leaf nodes are at the exact same depth, guaranteeing predictable, worst-case search time.
    3. Data at Leaves Only: Internal nodes act purely as a "map" or routing guide. Only leaf nodes contain Data Record Pointers.
    4. Linked Leaves: Leaf nodes are connected via sequential pointers, making range queries highly efficient without traversing back up the tree.

    Indexing and B+ Trees: Solved Questions with Step-by-Step Explanations (3 Problems)

    Question 1 · Database Management and Warehousing · 2026 NAT
    In a relational database, a B+ Tree Index is to be constructed for a relation on a key field. In a B+ Tree, a Node Pointer points to a sub-tree and a Data Record Pointer points to a block of database records.

    Let, Node size = 4096 bytes, Node Pointer size = 10 bytes, Search Key Field size = 11 bytes and Data Record Pointer size = 12 bytes.

    The maximum number of Node Pointers that can be present in a non-leaf node of the B+ Tree is ________ . (Answer in integer)
    Question 2 · Database Management and Warehousing · 2026 MCQ
    Consider a B+ Tree where the maximum number of key values in each leaf node is 2 and the maximum number of pointers in each non-leaf node is 3. Let the content of the B+ Tree be as shown in the figure.

    5 8 1 5 7 8 9 12 NULL

    Which of the following options denotes the key value(s) stored in the root node after inserting a key value 3 in the given B+ Tree?
    1. A.

      5

    2. B.

      8

    3. C.

      3 and 5

    4. D.

      3, 5 and 8

    Question 3 · Database Management and Warehousing · 2024 MSQ
    An OTT company is maintaining a large disk-based relational database of different
    movies with the following schema:

    Movie(ID, CustomerRating)
    Genre(ID, Name)
    Movie_Genre(MovieID, GenreID)

    Consider the following SQL query on the relation database above:

    SELECT *
    FROM Movie, Genre, Movie_Genre
    WHERE
    Movie.CustomerRating > 3.4 AND
    Genre.Name = “Comedy” AND
    Movie_Genre.MovieID = Movie.ID AND
    Movie_Genre.GenreID = Genre.ID;

    This SQL query can be sped up using which of the following indexing options?
    1. A.

      tree on all the attributes.

    2. B.

      Hash index on Genre.Name and tree on the remaining attributes.

    3. C.

      Hash index on Movie.CustomerRating and tree on the remaining attributes.

    4. D.

      Hash index on all the attributes.

    More previous year questions (pyqs) in this unit