Chapter 8. The Role of the Database Optimizer

At the heart of a relational database system is the query optimizer. Most database systems provide ways of revealing query plans, although understanding the plans can be a daunting task if you don’t understand how query optimizers work and how to interpret the jargon associated with them. This chapter attempts to demystify query optimization by looking at what query optimizers do, the methods they use, and the factors that influence them. Finally, we briefly consider various techniques used to reduce the amount of work query optimizers need to do.

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