Query Optimizer is a part of the server that takes a parsed SQL query and produces a query execution plan. MySQL Query Optimizer uses (as one of its parameters) the stored key distribution (Cardinality) mechanism to determine the order in which tables should be joined, when you perform a join on something other than a [...]
When I have discovered MySQL User-defined variables at the first time, I didn’t pay much attention to them and didn’t realize their strength. At first, one can think that they are just one of the many unnoticed MySQL features. Well, I was wrong. Here, I will try to summarize their strength, though I think there is [...]
A SELECT statement with COUNT returns the number of rows retrieved by the SELECT statement (see mysql select count). For performance reasons, the desired result is to limit that count. Including a LIMIT clause in the SELECT statement will not work since it only restricts the number of rows returned, which is always one. The [...]
One way to do a “Conditional Join” in MySQL is by using a “LEFT JOIN”. Create a “LEFT JOIN” for each condition and combine the results into one column using an “IF” statement by the “SELECT” expression. Here’s an example: Suppose you have three tables: questions: a table consisting of question ids, timestamps, and whether [...]
Question: How can you select records from one table that doesn’t have a specific ID in a second, many-to-many table? In other words, imagine you have a questions table (A), categories table (B), and a many-to-many relationship link table (L). This setup allows a question to have several categories. How can you find questions that [...]
