Context

Meta data engineers often model analytics data for products like Facebook Feed, Instagram Reels, and Ads Manager. The schema choice affects query simplicity, storage efficiency, and how easy it is to maintain dimensions over time.

Question

Compare star schema and snowflake schema in a warehouse or analytics environment. Explain:

1. What each schema looks like structurally
2. How they differ in normalization, joins, and query performance
3. The tradeoffs in usability, storage, and maintenance
4. When you would choose one over the other for a product analytics workload at Meta

Scope Guidance

Keep the answer practical. The interviewer is looking for a clear comparison, not textbook definitions only. Discuss how the choice impacts SQL query complexity, BI/reporting use cases, and dimension management at scale. If helpful, reference fact tables, dimension tables, and common analytical joins.