1. Whitespace, case, bind variables vs. constants all matter.

2. Small tables may be faster with a table scan.

3. Queries returning a large number (> 5-20%) of the rows in the table may be faster
with a table scan.
4. Must use the leading column(s) of the index for the index to be used.
5. Using a function, calculation, or other operation on an indexed column disables the
use of the Index.
6. Using NOT with indexed columns in where clause excludes the use of index.
7. Optimizer setting can be done at three levels
Instance level: - Optimizer_mode
Session level: - Alter session set Optimizer_mode
Query Level: - Use Hints (/*+ ….. */)
8. Specify the driving table last in the FROM Clause.
9. When joining 3 or more tables, use the Intersection table (with the most shared
columns) as the driving table.
10. Specify first those conditions in where clause which discards the maximum
numbers of rows.
11. When using an "AND" subquery, place it first, it will use less CPU time (70%).
12. When using an "OR" subquery, place it last, it will use less CPU time (50%)
13. When Joining and Filtering, specify the all Filter condition first, Joins last.
14. Use ‘EXISTS’ instead of ‘IN’ in subqueries, IN scans both tables where as EXISTS
scans outer table only.
15. Use Join instead of Subquery. Subquery scans both tables where as Join uses
one table and uses index for other.
16. EXISTS: better than Join if the number of matching rows in table in subquery is
small.
17. Join: better than EXISTS if the number of matching rows in table in subquery is
large.
18. Use UNION ALL instead of UNION if there are no duplicate rows (or if you don't
mind duplicates).
19.