Splunk Core Certified User Practice Exam

Are wildcards more efficient at the beginning or the end of strings in Splunk?

1. At the beginning of strings

2. At the end of strings

3. Not at all efficient

4. Only on single words

The correct answer is: At the end of strings

Wildcards are generally more efficient at the end of strings in Splunk. When used at the end of a search string, wildcards allow Splunk to quickly filter through data by matching any character combination that precedes the wildcard. This is because the search can process the initial, fixed portion of the string with much greater efficiency, allowing for a larger dataset to be scanned less exhaustively. Using a wildcard at the beginning of a string, however, requires Splunk to check every single entry in the database to find matches, as it does not have a fixed starting point. This leads to less efficient searches because it cannot take advantage of indexing optimizations. Wildcards are not considered efficient when they are placed at the beginning of strings, which is why this choice is not the right answer. Similarly, the option regarding efficiency not existing at all doesn't accurately reflect the potential of wildcards used wisely. Finally, the suggestion that wildcards are only used on single words is misleading, as wildcards can be effectively utilized in longer string patterns as well.