Materialized views are particularly useful under which conditions?

• A. The base table changes frequently and queries are simple.
• B. The base table does not change frequently and queries require heavy processing.
• C. The base table is very small and queries are trivial.
• D. The data is in an external stage only.

Answer: (B)

Materialized views save you from repeating expensive calculations by storing precomputed results. They’re most useful when the underlying data doesn’t change often, so you can refresh the view less frequently and serve heavy or complex queries quickly from the precomputed result. If the base table changes frequently, keeping the materialized view up to date becomes costly—rapid refreshes remove much of the performance benefit and add write latency. If the data are very small or the queries are trivial, the overhead of maintaining the view isn’t worth it. And if the data live only in an external stage, there isn’t the same opportunity for a durable, efficiently refreshed materialized view. So the best fit is a base table that doesn’t change frequently and queries that require substantial processing.