Chapter 5. Indexing and Clustering

In this chapter, we look at the indexing and clustering facilities provided by Oracle.

An index is an object with its own unique storage that provides a fast access path into a table. A cluster is a means of organizing table data to optimize certain access paths. Indexes and clusters exist primarily to enhance performance, so understanding and using indexes or clusters effectively is of vital importance when optimizing Oracle performance.

Overview of Oracle Indexing and Clustering

Oracle provides a variety of indexing and clustering mechanisms. We examine each in detail throughout the chapter, but here is a brief overview:

B*-Tree indexes—This is Oracle’s default index type. It is a highly flexible index ...

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