Indexing text columns in MySQL
This time, I’m talking about indexes for string typed columns. In particular, I’ll show a procedure I find useful while looking for good index length values for these columns. I’ll use a sample table called people. Here’s what it looks like: mysql> desc people; +————+——————+——+—–+———+—————-+ | Field | Type | Null | Key | Default [...]
Using MySQL Proxy to benchmark query performance
By transparently sitting between client and server on each request, MySQL Proxy offers many possibilities for query manipulation. Many are explored in the cookbook, and they even include a histogram recipe. Still, I wanted to learn more about the proxy while working on a script that would let me get some stats on the queries [...]
Using the ENUM data type to increase performance
While going through the DATA TYPES section of the Certification Study Guide, I was refreshed of the ENUM datatype, which I rarely use.
I usually create individual tables for enumerations, so that new values can be added with just an insert, or deprecated values can be marked as such.
However, today I got to think about the performance issues involved in all that joining, and how could an ENUM column improve a select.
