Apache Spark Certification 2025 – 400 Free Practice Questions to Pass the Exam

The default context object in Spark for RDD operations is commonly referred to as 'sc'. This abbreviation stands for 'SparkContext', which is the entry point to write Spark applications. When you initialize a Spark application in Scala, Python, or Java, the SparkContext or its abbreviated form 'sc' is created automatically for you. This context object is essential as it facilitates the creation and manipulation of RDDs (Resilient Distributed Datasets), as well as managing the cluster resources and scheduling tasks.

While 'sparkContext' refers to the same underlying object, 'sc' is the variable name conventionally used in example code and practice, making it familiar to those learning or using Spark. The other contexts mentioned, such as 'sqlContext', are used for specific types of operations, namely those related to Spark SQL, and thus do not serve as the default context for general RDD operations. Similarly, 'context' is too vague and not specific to Spark’s functionality regarding RDDs, making 'sc' the preferred answer in the context of this question. This widespread usage of 'sc' in examples and documentation further solidifies its role as the default object for RDD operations in Spark.