FAQ

About
Updates
Offline Reading
How to Support the Site?
About the Author
- Who are you? Who wrote the tutorial?
- Can you help me with my indexing or performance problems?
Privacy
Misc
- Is it "a SQL" or "an SQL"
- What does "Use The Index, Luke" stand for?

What is "Use The Index, Luke"?

Use The Index, Luke is a guide to SQL performance for developers.

It's focused on correct index usage; that is the (only?) part that developers need to care about.

What is "SQL Performance Explained"?

"SQL Performance Explained" is the ePUB edition of "Use The Index, Luke".

It's the very same text in both editions. The difference is that "Use The Index, Luke" is a web-page while "SQL Performance Explained" is a ePUB download.

Is it only about the Oracle® database?

The index concepts are very similar in all SQL databases—even though they might have a different name. Some sections have a "Compatibility" box that explains how the described feature differs in other databases like MySQL, PostgeSQL, SQL Server or DB2.

The main body uses Oracle terms only for a better readability.

Is it only about B-Tree indexes?

Yes — as of now.

The B-Tree index is the general purpose index type — it's the one created with a plain vanilla CREATE INDEX statement.

Other index types are not covered in detail because they apply to a very specific problem domain only:

Bitmap index: Used in data warehouse environments. Shortly discussed in Index combine
Full text index: Used for full text searches only. Shortly discussed in the LIKE operator
Spatial index: Used for Geo Spatial queries (e.g., find nearby businesses)

But it stops in the middle?

Yes. The book will be published in several parts every second week. You can subscribe to the RSS feed where the new parts will be announced.

How to get updates?

New parts are released once or twice each month with a blog-post. You can follow with RSS like any blog, via twitter or Facebook

Please note that the Web-Edition receives regular updates. The ePUB edition is released in two Volumes only.

Where is the download?

The book is available as ePUB download. However, the ePUB has a different name: SQL Performance Explained.

The ePUB edition is released in two parts. Volume 1—Basic Indexing—covers the only Chapter 1 (Anatomy of an Index) and Chapter 2 (The Where Clause).

The remaining Chapters will go into Volume 2 when available. However, the Web-Edition, Use The Index, Luke grows constantly. So, you don't need to wait for Volume 2, just follow Use The Index, Luke.

What's an ePUB?

EPUB is an open e-book standard. Almost all e-book reader can handle ePUB files.

How can I read an ePUB?

There are many ways to read ePUB e-books. That includes commercial e-book devices, smartphones as well as desktop computers.

Wikipedia has a list of Software Reading Systems (smartphones and desktop) and Hardware Reading Systems (e-book reader).

If your device can't handle ePUB—Amazon Kindle anybody?—there is still the option to convert the ePUB with something like Calibre.

The "SQL Performance Explained" ePUB download is DRM free. Please respect the term of the CC-BY-NC-ND license.

How can I help promoting your Site?

There are many possibilities. Here are some ideas:

Tell your friends (in person, really!)
Link it from your site or blog
Ask related question on Ask.Use-The-Index-Luke.com
Bookmark it on social sites like Delicious, x-marks, Mr. Wong...
Tell me about spelling, grammar, and other errors

How can I tell you about spelling and grammar errors?

Please see at my contact page.

How can I give Money?

Well, it's a "commercial" project in that sense that I run it to promote myself as coach and consultant.

If you really wanna support me financially, you should contact me about some consultancy. Instant-Coaching is just one particular product I offer. However, I am also available for on-site consulting as well as for training and coaching.

If all of that isn't for you, but you still want to give some real money; just flattr me. Never heard? Here is a YouTube video explaining flattr.

Who are you? Who wrote the tutorial?

My about me page contains all the details about me.

Can you help me with my indexing or performance problems?

Well, yes. There are two ways to get your solutions. The first is to ask the community at Ask.Use-The-Index-Luke.com. That site is a community driven effort, you may or may not get your answer there. However, give it a try!

The second option is sign-up for my commercial Instant-Coaching service. I will then try to help you with a Desktop-Sharing session working directly at your problem. With Instant-Coaching, there is no need to post your problem to the public.

Is it "a SQL" or "an SQL"

It depends on your pronouncement. I am saying S-Q-L, hence "an SQL". It seems to be backed by ANSI, as Wikipedia states.

What does "Use The Index, Luke" stand for?

The title refers to the sentence "Use The Force, Luke" from the Star Wars® movies.

A properly used index is a very powerful tool, just like The Force from the movies.

Privacy: Social Networks

Use-The-Index-Luke.com does not include any external resources such as images or JavaScript code from social networks.

The buttons provided by most social media websites do not work without connecting to the social media site itself. To protect privacy but still provide a—more or less—convenient way to use the social media, an overlay window opens if you click those buttons. Only then, the social media site is contacted—that is; only if you want to contact that site anyway.

Privacy: Ads

We use third-party advertising companies to serve ads when you visit our website. These companies may use information (not including your name, address, email address, or telephone number) about your visits to this and other websites in order to provide advertisements about goods and services of interest to you. If you would like more information about this practice and to know your choices about not having this information used by these companies, click here.

Privacy: Google Analytics und Google Remarketing

This website uses Google Analytics and Google Remarketing.

Cookies

A cookie is a piece of information in the form of a very small text file that is placed on an internet user's hard drive. It is generated by a web page server, which is basically the computer that operates a web site. The information the cookie contains is set by the server and it can be used by that server whenever the user visits the site. A cookie can be thought of as an internet user's identification card, which tell a web site when the user has returned.

You can disable cookies in your web-browser.

Google Analytics

Google Analytics is a web analytics service provided by Google, Inc. (“Google”). Google Analytics uses “cookies”, which are text files placed on your computer, to help the website analyze how users use the site. Further information about privacy in Google Analytics is available at http://www.google.com/analytics/learn/privacy.html.

Google Remarketing

Here, Google Inc. collates information relating to your visit to our Website. For this, Google uses cookies, which are text files that are stored on your computer. Within the context of remarketing, such cookies are used – on the basis of your visit to our Website – to show you online advertising for our products and services when you visit other Websites. You can Opt-Out of this "interested-based advertising" at Google, or alternativley use the Opt-Out function of the Opt-Out function of the Network Advertising Initiative.

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