54 of 55.

Adaptive Query Execution (AQE) is a Spark SQL feature introduced to dynamically optimize queries at runtime based on actual data statistics collected during execution.

Key benefits include:

Runtime plan adaptation: Spark adjusts the physical plan after some stages complete.

Skew handling: Automatically splits skewed partitions to balance work distribution.

Join strategy optimization: Dynamically switches between shuffle join and broadcast join depending on partition sizes.

Coalescing shuffle partitions: Reduces the number of small tasks for better performance.

Example configuration:

spark.conf.set("spark.sql.adaptive.enabled", True)

This enables AQE globally in Spark 3.5.

Why the other options are incorrect:

A: AQE adapts during runtime, not only before execution.

B: Task distribution is a base Spark feature, not specific to AQE.

C: AQE specifically addresses runtime skew and join adjustments.