Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Query Optimization (in Relational Databases)

  • Reference work entry
Encyclopedia of Database Systems

Synonyms

Query compilation

Definition

Database queries are given in declarative languages, typically SQL. The goal of query optimization is to choose the best execution strategy for a given query under the given resource constraints. While the query specifies the user intent (i.e., the desired output), it does not specify how the output should be produced. This allows for optimization decisions, and for many queries there is a wide range of possible execution strategies, which can differ greatly in their resulting performance. This renders query optimization an important step during query processing.

Historical Background

One of the first papers to discuss query optimization in relational database systems was the seminal System R paper [2]. It introduced a dynamic programming algorithm for optimizing the join order, and coined the concept of interesting orders for exploiting available orderings. Later approaches increased the set of optimized operators, and included a rule based...

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution
Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 2,500.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

Recommended Reading

  1. Chaudhuri S. An overview of query optimization in relational systems. In Proc. 17th ACM SIGACT-SIGMOD-SIGART Symp. on Principles of Database Systems, 1998, pp. 34–43.

    Google Scholar 

  2. Garcia-Molina H., Ullman J.D., and Widom J. Database system implementation. Prentice-Hall, 2000.

    Google Scholar 

  3. Graefe G. The cascades framework for query optimization. Q. Bull. IEEE TC on Data Engineering, 18(3):19–29, 1995.

    Google Scholar 

  4. Graefe G. and McKenna W.J. The volcano optimizer generator: Extensibility and efficient search. In Proc. 9th Int. Conf. on Data Engineering, 1993, pp. 209–218.

    Google Scholar 

  5. Haas L.M., Freytag J.C., Lohman G.M., and Pirahesh H. Extensible query processing in starburst. In Proc. ACM SIGMOD Int. Conf. on Management of Data, 1989, pp. 377–388.

    Google Scholar 

  6. Moerkotte G. Building query compilers, available at http://db.informatik.uni-mannheim.de/moerkotte.html.en, 2006.

    Google Scholar 

  7. Muralikrishna M. Improved unnesting algorithms for join aggregate SQL Queries. In Proc. 18th Int. Conf. on Very Large Data Bases, 1992, pp. 91–102.

    Google Scholar 

  8. Rao J., Lindsay B.G., Lohman G.M., Pirahesh H., and Simmen D.E. Using EELS, a practical approach to outerjoin and antijoin reordering. In Proc. 17th Int. Conf. on Data Engineering, 2001, pp. 585–594.

    Google Scholar 

  9. Selinger P.G., Astrahan M.M., Chamberlin D.D., Lorie R.A., and Price T.G. Access path selection in a relational database management System. In Proc. ACM SIGMOD Int. Conf. on Management of Data, 1979, pp. 23–34.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Max-Planck Institute for Informatics, Saarbrücken, Germany

    Thomas Neumann

Authors
  1. Thomas Neumann
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. College of Computing, Georgia Institute of Technology, 266 Ferst Drive, 30332-0765, Atlanta, GA, USA

    LING LIU (Professor) (Professor)

  2. Database Research Group David R. Cheriton School of Computer Science, University of Waterloo, 200 University Avenue West, N2L 3G1, Waterloo, ON, Canada

    M. TAMER ÖZSU (Professor and Director, University Research Chair) (Professor and Director, University Research Chair)

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2009 Springer Science+Business Media, LLC

About this entry

Cite this entry

Neumann, T. (2009). Query Optimization (in Relational Databases). In: LIU, L., ÖZSU, M.T. (eds) Encyclopedia of Database Systems. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-0-387-39940-9_293

Download citation

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation