What is the primary reason for using SHALLOW CLONE instead of DEEP CLONE when referencing Delta Lake tables for development?

The primary reason for using SHALLOW CLONE instead of DEEP CLONE when referencing Delta Lake tables for development is that SHALLOW CLONE is faster to create than DEEP CLONE. This speed advantage is particularly significant in scenarios where developers need to quickly set up a working environment for testing or development purposes.

SHALLOW CLONE works by creating a different metadata reference to the existing data rather than duplicating the entire dataset. This makes it more efficient, both in terms of time and resource consumption. Developers can quickly generate a clone to experiment with, analyze, or modify without the overhead that comes along with duplicating data, which is what DEEP CLONE does.

In contrast, DEEP CLONE creates a complete copy of the data along with the metadata, which can be time-consuming and storage-intensive, particularly for large datasets. The other options do not accurately reflect the functionalities or benefits associated with SHALLOW CLONE versus DEEP CLONE in the context of Delta Lake. For example, the notion of data consistency is not inherently improved with SHALLOW CLONE, and SHALLOW CLONE does not have automatic deletion functionality based on time, nor is DEEP CLONE unavailable for Delta Lake tables. These factors exemplify how SHALLOW