Does CREATE OR REPLACE TABLE ... LIKE ... require a running warehouse?

• A. True
• B. False
• C. Only if the source table exists
• D. It depends on the schema

Answer: (B)

Creating a table with LIKE copies only the structure of the existing table. Because no data is read or moved, this is a metadata operation, not a data-processing task. Snowflake can perform it without a running virtual warehouse, since no compute resources are needed to scan or transform data. The table inherits the source’s column definitions, data types, and nullability, but you’re not touching any actual data during this action. If you were creating the table as a select from another table (CREATE TABLE ... AS SELECT), that would involve reading data and would require a warehouse for compute. Privileges and the existence of the source table matter, but the key point is that this metadata-only operation doesn’t require a running warehouse.