With so many companies using the cloud to store large amounts of data, SQL optimization has become more important than ever. SQL (structured language query) is a programming language used to query and communicate with a database to extrapolate information. It is a language that can be used to perform a variety of tasks, such as creating, querying, updating, and deleting data. The performance of SQL queries greatly depending on how to the query written.

This guide will discuss some of the most important factors to consider when optimizing SQL queries.

Why Optimize SQL Queries?
Imagine a customer searching for a product in online and results take a few minutes a appear. What do you think customer wait? In my opinion probably not. For this reason Database managers must ensure SQL queries optimize with efficiency.

1. Use indexes efficient
Indexes are a key to query performance. They allow the database to quickly find the rows that match your query criteria.

2. Avoid SELECT queries
SELECT queries are inefficient. This is because they view all the fields in a dataset rather than just the relevant ones. Instead, focus on retrieving necessary columns only. By only selecting the fields that you need to view, models and reports will be clean and easier to use.

3. Use Joins Properly
Joins can be a powerful tool, but they can also be costly. Choose the right join type for the task at hand, and use efficient join conditions to avoid cartesian products.

4. Use EXIST() instead of COUNT() queries
When searching for a specific element in a table, it’s more efficient to use an EXIST() keyword instead of a COUNT() one. This is because a COUNT query counts every instance of the specific search element – which can be very inefficient, especially if the database is large!

5.Avoid subqueries
When subqueries are used in WHERE or HAVING clauses, they can slow down the performance of the query. This is because they can return large numbers of rows, making them difficult to execute.

6. Use Caching and Materialized Views
Caching and materialized views can be used to store frequently accessed query results in memory, which can significantly improve performance.

7.Use Tools for Query Tuning
There are number of tools available like APEXSQL Plan, SQL Azure Query Performance Insight that can help you to understand how your queries are executing, and EXPLAIN and ANALYZE commands can help you to identify optimization opportunities.

Conclusion

Understanding and monitoring performance plays a key role in optimizing SQL queries and combined with simple steps such as indexing and swapping functions you can quickly make a difference to search time.