[thelist] Re: USE INDEXES! USE INDEXES! USE INDEXES!

[Conrad E. Muller]

A lot of indexes is not the solution to every performance problem.

Indexes spead-up reads, but slow down writes (indexes have to be rebuilt whenever the indexed fields
have changed.) The number and type of indexes should depend on both the size and usage of the
database.

In a product catalog, where updates are infrequent, use lots of indexes. You can batch update the
catalog during slow periods, and then rebuild all of your indexes at the same time.

For a database with lots of updates, index lightly, and you can still batch the re-indexing on some
databases.

Conrad

> USE INDEXES! USE INDEXES! USE INDEXES!
> 
> Index tables based on the criteria you will
> use the most which is generally the most
> unique criteria.  You will almost always see
> a *noticable* improvement in performance if
> you index properly.
> 
> Think of it this way.  How long would it
> take you to find what you want in a book
> without the index?  Even in a
> [relatively] small book, it helps a lot.


-- 

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