SQL Optimization

SQL Optimization (Verbose)

Core Patterns

Query Execution Plans

Always start with EXPLAIN ANALYZE to understand execution:

EXPLAIN ANALYZE 
SELECT o.order_id, o.total, c.name
FROM orders o
JOIN customers c ON o.customer_id = c.id
WHERE o.created_at > '2026-01-01'
ORDER BY o.total DESC
LIMIT 100;

Look for:

• Seq Scan: Full table scan (avoid for large tables)
• Index Scan: Uses index (good)
• Index Cond: Filters applied via index (excellent)
• Filter: Filters applied after scan (less efficient)

Index Strategy

-- Single column index (simple filtering)
CREATE INDEX idx_orders_customer ON orders(customer_id);

-- Multi-column index (multiple conditions)
CREATE INDEX idx_orders_date_status ON orders(created_at, status);

-- Partial index (condition built-in)
CREATE INDEX idx_active_orders ON orders(customer_id) 
WHERE status IN ('pending', 'processing');

-- Expression index (for computed values)
CREATE INDEX idx_age_calc ON customers(EXTRACT(YEAR FROM age(birth_date)));

Avoiding N+1 Problems

# ❌ BAD: N+1 queries (1 + 1000)
orders = db.query("SELECT * FROM orders LIMIT 1000")
for order in orders:
    customer = db.query("SELECT * FROM customers WHERE id = ?", order.customer_id)
    # Query fired 1000 times!

# ✅ GOOD: Single query with join
orders = db.query("""
  SELECT o.*, c.name, c.email
  FROM orders o
  JOIN customers c ON o.customer_id = c.id
  LIMIT 1000
""")

Pagination Patterns

-- Avoid OFFSET for large datasets (expensive)
SELECT * FROM orders LIMIT 100 OFFSET 100000;  -- Slow!

-- Use keyset pagination instead
SELECT * FROM orders 
WHERE order_id > 100000
LIMIT 100;  -- Fast!

Common Anti-Patterns

SELECT * (avoid):

-- ❌ Fetches unused columns, wastes bandwidth
SELECT * FROM orders WHERE customer_id = 123;

-- ✅ Fetch only needed columns
SELECT order_id, total, status FROM orders WHERE customer_id = 123;

Functions in WHERE clause:

-- ❌ Can't use index
SELECT * FROM orders WHERE YEAR(created_at) = 2026;

-- ✅ Uses index
SELECT * FROM orders 
WHERE created_at >= '2026-01-01' 
  AND created_at < '2027-01-01';

Wildcard at start:

-- ❌ Can't use index
SELECT * FROM customers WHERE name LIKE '%john%';

-- ✅ Uses index (prefix match)
SELECT * FROM customers WHERE name LIKE 'john%';

Query Optimization Checklist

• Use EXPLAIN ANALYZE
• Add indexes on filtered columns
• Avoid N+1 queries with joins
• Use appropriate data types
• Avoid functions in WHERE
• Use LIMIT for pagination
• Monitor slow query logs