Indexes

Question 1

What is indexing? What benefit does it provide?

Answer 1

Indexing allows you to more quickly search through a database by assigning keys (similar to a hash map). These can greatly improve search performance to avoid scanning the entire table.

Question 2

What is a downside of indexing?

Answer 2

Indexing can speed up read performance, but it can impact write performance (as now indexing is being performed).

Question 3

What should you consider before applying indexes to a database?

Answer 3

If you are running a very read intensive system, then indexing provides a great benefit. However, write-heavy systems may want to avoid defining too many indices as performance would degrade.