Chapter One

Query Processing and

Optimization
Query processing and Optimization

 Translating SQL Queries into Relational Algebra

 Basic Algorithms for Executing Query Operations
 Query Optimization Techniques
 Using Heuristic in Query Optimization
 Using Selectivity and Cost Estimates in Query
Optimization
 Semantic Query Optimization
 Introduction
 There are several techniques used internally by a DBMS
to process, optimize, and execute high-level queries.
 A query expressed in a high-level query language such as
SQL must first be scanned, parsed, and validated.
 An internal representation of the query is then created,
usually as a tree data structure  query tree. It is also
possible to represent the query using a graph data
structure called a query graph.
 The DBMS must then devise an execution strategy or
query plan for retrieving the results of the query from the
database files.
 A query typically has many possible execution strategies,
and the process of choosing a suitable one for processing
a query is known as query optimization
 Relational algebra-operations on a relation…
Operations that could be applied on relations
 Selection (  ) Selects a subset of rows from a relation.
 Projection (  ) Deletes unwanted columns from a relation.
 Renaming: assigning intermediate relation for a single operation
 Cross-Product ( x ) Allows to concatenate a tuple from one relation
with all the tuples from the other relation.
 Set-Difference (- ) Tuples in relation R1, but not in relation R2.
 Union ( ) Tuples in relation R1, or in relation R2.
 Intersection () Tuples in relation R1 and in relation R1
 Join( )Tuples joined from two relations based on a condition
Query processing :
 The aim of query processing is to find information in one or

more databases and deliver it to the user.

Query processing …..
Query processing . . .
Query Optimization
 Transformation Rules for Relational Algebra Operations:

1. Cascade of s: A conjunctive selection condition can be

broken up into a cascade (sequence) of individual s
operations:
 s
c1 AND c2 AND ... AND cn(R) = sc1 (sc2 (...(scn(R))...) )
2. Commutativity of s:

The s operation is commutative:
 sc1 (sc2(R)) = sc2 (sc1(R))
3. Cascade of p: In a cascade (sequence) of p operations, all
but the last one can be ignored:
 p
List1 (pList2 (...(pListn(R))...) ) = pList1(R)
Transformation Rules (cont…)

4. Commuting s with p:
 If the selection condition c involves only the
attributes A1, ..., An in the projection list, the two
operations can be commuted:
 pA1, A2, ..., An (sc (R)) = sc (pA1, A2, ..., An (R))

5. Commuting of and X: both are commutative

R cS = S c R, RXS=SXR
Transformation rules (cont…)
6. Commuting p with : If projection list is L = {A1, ..., An,
B1, ..., Bm}, where A1, ..., An are attributes of R and
B1, ..., Bm are attributes of S and the join condition c
involves only attributes in L, the two operations can be
commuted as follows:
 pL ( R C S ) = (pA1, ..., An (R)) C (p B1, ..., Bm (S))

7. Converting a (s, x) sequence into : If the condition c of a

s that follows a x Corresponds to a join condition, convert
the (s, x) sequence into a as follows:
(sC (R x S)) = (R C S)
Query Processing and Optimization
• Database system features
 Crash Recovery
 Integrity Checking
 Security
 Concurrency Control
 Query Processing and Optimization
 File Organization and Optimization

• Query languages: Allow manipulation and retrieval

of data from a database.
 Query Processing and Optimization
 A query expressed in a high-level query language such as
SQL must first be scanned, parsed, and validated.
 The Scanner identifies the language tokens—such as
SQL keywords, attribute names, and relation names.
 The Parser checks the query syntax based on the rules of
the query language.
 The query must also be Validated, by checking that all
attribute and relation names are valid and semantically
meaningful names in the schema of the particular
database being queried.
Query Processing and Optimization
 An internal representation of the query is then
created, usually as a tree data structure called a
query tree.
 It is also possible to represent the query using a
graph data structure called a query graph.
 The DBMS must then devise an execution
strategy for retrieving the result of the query from
the database files. A query typically has many
possible execution strategies, and the process of
choosing a suitable one for processing a query is
known as query optimization.
Query Processing and Optimization
 The query optimizer module has the task of
producing an execution plan.
 The code generator generates the code to
execute that plan.
 The runtime database processor has the task
of running the query code.
Query Processing and Optimization
 Query Processing: refers to the range of activities involved
in extracting data from a database.
 Query optimization: is the process of choosing a suitable
execution strategy for processing a query.
+ Before optimizing the query it is represented in an internal or
intermediate form using two data structures:-
 Query tree: A tree data structure that corresponds to a relational algebra
expression. It represents the input relations of the query as leaf nodes of the tree,
and represents the relational algebra operations as internal nodes.
 Query graph: A graph data structure that corresponds to a relational
calculus expression. It does not indicate an order on which operations to perform
first. There is only a single graph corresponding to each query.
Query Processing (Cont.…)
 Query Processing (cont…)
 Scanner: The scanner identifies the language
tokens such as SQL Keywords, attribute
names, and relation names in the text of the
query.
 Parser: The parser checks the query syntax to
determine whether it is formulated according to
the syntax rules of the query language.
 Validation: The query must be validated by
checking that all attributes and relation names
are valid and semantically meaningful names in
the schema of the particular database being
queried.
Query Processing (cont…)
 Query Optimization: The process of choosing a
suitable execution strategy for processing a query.
This module has the task of producing an execution
plan.
 Query Code Generator: It generates the code to
execute the plan.
 Runtime Database Processor: It has the task of
running the query code whether in compiled or
interpreted mode. If a runtime error results an error
message is generated by the runtime database
processor
 Query Processing (cont…)
 Query block:
 The basic unit that can be translated into the
algebraic operators
 A query block contains a single SELECT-
FROM-WHERE expression, as well as GROUP
BY and HAVING clause if these are part of the
block.
 Nested queries within a query are identified as
separate query blocks.
 Query Processing (cont…)
SELECT LNAME, FNAME
FROM EMPLOYEE
WHERE SALARY > (SELECT MAX (SALARY)
FROM EMPLOYEE
WHERE DNO = 5);

SELECT LNAME, FNAME SELECT MAX (SALARY)

FROM EMPLOYEE FROM EMPLOYEE
WHERE SALARY > C WHERE DNO = 5

πLNAME, FNAME (σSALARY>C(EMPLOYEE)) ℱMAX SALARY (σDNO=5 (EMPLOYEE))

Basic algorithms for Executing query
operations
 External Sorting
 Implementing the SELECT Operation
 Implementing the JOIN Operation
 Implementing PROJECT and Set Operations
Basic algorithms for executing query
operations
 External sorting:
 Refers to sorting algorithms that are suitable for large

files of records stored on disk that do not fit entirely in

main memory, such as most database files
 External sorting uses Sort-Merge strategy:
 Starts by sorting small subfiles (runs) of the main file

and then merges the sorted runs, creating larger sorted

subfiles that are merged in turn
 Sorting phase:


Number subfiles (runs) nR = (b/nB)
 Merging phase:

Degree of mergin(dM) = Min (nB-1, nR); nP = (logdM(nR))
Sort-Merge strategy (cont…)
 nR: number of initial runs;
 b: number of file blocks;

 nB: available buffer space;

 dM: degree of merging;

 P: number of passes

 The size of a run and number of initial run depends on the

number of file blocks (b) and available buffer space (nB)
 Example: if nB=5 blocks and size of the file=1024 blocks,
 nR=(b/nB)= (1024/5) =205 runs each of size 5 blocks

except the last run which will have 4 blocks.

 Hence, after the sort phase, 205 sorted runs are stored

as temporary subfiles on disk

Sort-Merge strategy (cont…)
 In the merging phase, the sorted runs are merged during one or
more passes.
 The degree of merging (dM) is the number of runs that can be
merged in each pass.
 dM=min((nB-1) and nR))

 The number of passes=[(logdM (nR))]

 In each pass, one buffer block is needed to hold one block from
each of the runs being merged and one block is needed for
containing one block of the merge result
 In the above example, dM=4(four way merging)
 Hence, the 205 initial sorted runs would be merged into:
 52 at the end of the first pass
 13 at the end of the second pass
 4 at the end of the third pass
 1 at the end of the fourth pass
Sort-Merge strategy (cont…)
Exercise
 A file of 4096 blocks is to be sorted with an available

buffer space of 64 blocks. How many passes will be

needed in the merge phase of the external sort-merge
algorithm?
 Implementing the SELECT Operation
 There are many options for executing a SELECT operation
 Some options depend on the file having specific access

paths and may apply only to certain types of selection

conditions
Examples:
 (OP1): s SSN='123456789' (EMPLOYEE)
 (OP2): s DNUMBER>5(DEPARTMENT)
 (OP3): s DNO=5(EMPLOYEE)
 (OP4): s DNO=5 AND SALARY>30000 AND SEX=F(EMPLOYEE)
 (OP5): s ESSN=123456789 AND PNO=10(WORKS_ON)
 (OP6): EMPLOYEE DNO=DNUMBER DEPARTMENT
 (OP7): DEPARTMENT MGRSSN=SSN EMPLOYEE
 Implementing the SELECT Operation
(cont…)
 Search Methods for implementing Simple Selection:
 A number of search algorithms are possible for

selecting records from a file  file scans, because

they scan the records of a file to search for and retrieve
records that satisfy a selection condition.
 If the search algorithm involves the use of an index,

the index search is called an index scan.

 The following search methods (S1 through S6) are

examples of some of the search algorithms that can be

used to implement a select operation:
Implementing the SELECT Operation
(cont…)
 S1 Linear search (brute force):
 Retrieve every record in the file, and test whether its attribute
values satisfy the selection condition.
 S2 Binary search:
 If the selection condition involves an equality comparison on a
key attribute on which the file is ordered, binary search (which
is more efficient than linear search) can be used. An example
is OP1 if SSN is the ordering attribute for EMPLOYEE file

s SSN='123456789' (EMPLOYEE)
 S3 Using a primary index or hash key to retrieve a
single record:
 If the selection condition involves an equality comparison on a
key attribute with a primary index (or a hash key), use the
primary index (or the hash key) to retrieve the record.
 For Example, OP1 use primary index to retrieve the record

s SSN='123456789' (EMPLOYEE)
 Implementing the SELECT Operation
(cont…)
 Search Methods for implementing Simple Selection
 S4 Using a primary index to retrieve multiple records:

 If the comparison condition is >, ≥, <, or ≤ on a key

field with a primary index, use the index to find the

record satisfying the corresponding equality condition,
then retrieve all subsequent records in the (ordered)
file. (see OP2)

s DNUMBER>5(DEPARTMENT)
 S5 Using a clustering index to retrieve multiple
records:
 If the selection condition involves an equality

comparison on a non-key attribute with a clustering

index, use the clustering index to retrieve all the
records satisfying the selection condition. (See OP3)

s DNO=5(EMPLOYEE)
 Implementing the SELECT Operation
(cont…)
S6: using a secondary index on an equality
comparison:
 This search method can be used to retrieve a single record if the indexing
field is a key (has unique values) or to retrieve multiple records if the
indexing field is not a key
Search Methods for implementing complex Selection:
If a condition of a SELECT operation is a conjunctive condition—that is,
if it is made up of several simple conditions connected with the AND
logical connective such as OP4 above—the DBMS can use the
following additional methods to implement the operation (S7 through
S8)
 (OP6): EMPLOYEE
DNO=DNUMBER DEPARTMENT

 (OP7): DEPARTMENT MGRSSN=SSN EMPLOYEE

 Implementing the SELECT Operation
(cont…)
S7: Conjunctive selection using an individual index :
If an attribute involved in any single simple condition in the
conjunctive condition has an access path that permits the use
of one of the methods S2 to S6, use that condition to retrieve
the records and then check whether each retrieved record
satisfies the remaining simple conditions in the conjunctive
condition
 Implementing the SELECT Operation
(cont…)
S8 :Conjunctive selection using a composite index:
 If two or more attributes are involved in equality conditions in
the conjunctive select condition and a composite index (or
hash structure) exists on the combined fields— for example, if
an index has been created on the composite key (Essn,Pno)
of the WORKS_ON file for OP5—we can use the index
directly
 Implementing the SELECT Operation (cont…)
S9:Conjunctive selection by intersection of record
pointers:
If secondary indexes (or other access paths) are available on
more than one of the fields involved in simple conditions in the
conjunctive select condition, and if the indexes include record
pointers (rather than block pointers),then each index can be
used to retrieve the set of record pointers that satisfy the
individual condition.
The intersection of these sets of record pointers gives the
record pointers that satisfy the conjunctive select condition,
which are then used to retrieve those records directly. If only
some of the conditions have secondary indexes, each
retrieved record is further tested to determine whether it
satisfies the remaining conditions.
 In general, method S9 assumes that each of the indexes is
on a nonkey field of the file, because if one of the conditions is
an equality condition on a key field, only one record will satisfy
the whole condition.
 Implementing the SELECT Operation
(summarized)
 Whenever a single condition specifies the selection,
such as OP1, OP2, or OP3, we can only check whether
an access path exists on the attribute involved in that
condition.
 If an access path exists, the method corresponding

to that access path is used;

 Otherwise, the “brute force” linear search approach

of method S1 is used
 For conjunctive selection conditions, whenever

more than one of the attributes involved in the

conditions have an access path, query optimization
should be done to choose the access path that
retrieves the fewest records in the most efficient way
 Implementing the SELECT Operation
(summarized)
 Disjunctive selection conditions: This is a situation where
simple conditions are connected by the OR logical
connective rather than AND
 Compared to conjunctive selection, It is much harder to

process and optimize

 Example: s DNO=5 OR SALARY>3000 OR SEX=‘F’(EMPLOYEE)
 Little optimization can be done because the records
satisfying the disjunctive condition are the union of the
records satisfying the individual conditions
 Hence, if any of the individual conditions does not have
an access path, we are compelled to use the brute force
approach
Implementing the JOIN Operation:
 The join operation is one of the most time
consuming operation in query processing
 Join
 two–way join: a join on two files

e.g. R A=B S
 multi-way joins: joins involving more than two files

e.g. R A=B S C=D T
 Examples
 (OP6): EMPLOYEE DNO=DNUMBER DEPARTMENT

 (OP7): DEPARTMENT MGRSSN=SSN EMPLOYEE

Implementing the JOIN Operation(cont…)
 Methods for implementing joins:
 J1 Nested-loop join (brute force):
 For each record t in R (outer loop), retrieve every
record s from S (inner loop) and test whether the
two records satisfy the join condition t[A] = s[B]
 J2 Single-loop join (Using an access structure to
retrieve the matching records):
 If an index (or hash key) exists for one of the two
join attributes — say, B of S — retrieve each record
t in R, one at a time, and then use the access
structure to retrieve directly all matching records s
from S that satisfy s[B] = t[A].
Implementing the JOIN Operation (cont…)
 Methods for implementing joins:
 J3 Sort-merge join:
 If the records of R and S are physically sorted
(ordered) by value of the join attributes A and B,
respectively, we can implement the join in the most
efficient way possible.
 Both files are scanned in order of the join attributes,
matching the records that have the same values for
A and B.
 In this method, the records of each file are scanned
only once each for matching with the other file—
unless both A and B are non-key attributes
 Algorithms for SELECT and JOIN Operations (cont…)

 Implementing the JOIN Operation (cont...):

 Factors affecting JOIN performance
 Available buffer space
 Join selection factor

Choice of inner Vs outer relation
Algorithms for SELECT and JOIN Operations (cont…)

 Partition hash join

 Partitioning phase:
 Each file (R and S) is first partitioned into M partitions using a
partitioning hash function on the join attributes: 
 R1 , R2 , R3 , ...... Rm and S1 , S2 , S3 , ...... Sm
 Minimum number of in-memory buffers needed for the
partitioning phase: M+1.
 A disk sub-file is created per partition to store the tuples for
that partition.  
 Joining or probing phase:
 Involves M iterations, one per partitioned file.
 Iteration i involves joining partitions Ri and Si.
Algorithms for PROJECT and SET Operations

 Algorithm for PROJECT operations ()

 <attribute list>(R)
1. If <attribute list> has a key of relation R, extract all tuples
from R with only the values for the attributes in <attribute
list>.
2. If <attribute list> does NOT include a key of relation R,
duplicated tuples must be removed from the results.

 Methods to remove duplicate tuples

1. Sorting
2. Hashing
Using Heuristics in Query Optimization
 Process for heuristics optimization
1. The parser of a high-level query generates an initial
internal representation;
2. Apply heuristics rules to optimize the internal
representation.
3. A query execution plan is generated to execute groups of
operations based on the access paths available on the files
involved in the query
 The main heuristic is to apply first the operations that
reduce the size of intermediate results
 E.g., Apply SELECT and PROJECT operations before
applying the JOIN or other binary operations
Using Heuristics in Query Optimization (cont…)

 Heuristic Optimization of Query Trees:

 The same query could correspond to many different
relational algebra expressions — and hence many different
query trees.
 The task of heuristic optimization of query trees is to find a
final query tree that is efficient to execute.
 It has some rules which utilize equivalence
expressions to transform the initial tree into final,
optimized query tree
 Example:
Q: SELECT LNAME
FROM EMPLOYEE, WORKS_ON, PROJECT
WHERE PNAME = ‘AQUARIUS’ AND
PNMUBER=PNO AND ESSN=SSN AND
BDATE > ‘1957-12-31’;
 Query Graph
 Nodes represents Relations.
 Ovals represents constant nodes.
 Edges represents Join & Selection
conditions.
 Attributes to be retrieved from relations
represented in square brackets.
Steps in converting a query tree during heuristic optimization:
Initial query tree for the query Q on slide 40
Steps in converting a query tree during heuristic optimization:

Moving the select operation down the tree

Steps in converting a query tree during heuristic optimization:
Applying the more restrictive select operation first
Steps in converting a query tree during heuristic optimization:
Replacing Cartesian product and select with join
Steps in converting a query tree during heuristic optimization:
Moving project operations down the query tree
 Using Heuristic in query optimization(cont…)
 The query graph representation for queries given in

slide 44.
 [lName]
Pnumber=pno ESSn=SSn
P W E
Pname=‘Aquaris’ BDate>1957-12-31

Aquaris
1957-12-31
 Using Heuristics in Query Optimization
 Summary of Heuristics for Algebraic Optimization:
1. The main heuristic is to apply first the operations that
reduce the size of intermediate results
2. Perform select operations as early as possible to reduce
the number of tuples and perform project operations as
early as possible to reduce the number of attributes. (This
is done by moving select and project operations as far
down the tree as possible.)
3. The select and project operations that are most restrictive
should be executed before other similar operations. (This
is done by reordering the leaf nodes of the tree among
themselves and adjusting the rest of the tree
appropriately.)
Using Selectivity and Cost Estimates in Query Optimization

 Cost-based query optimization:

 Estimate and compare the costs of executing a query

using different execution strategies and choose the

strategy with the lowest cost estimate
 Cost Components for Query Execution
1.Access cost to secondary storage
2.Computation cost
3.Memory usage cost
4.Communication cost
 Note: Different database systems may focus on different
cost components.

Using Selectivity and Cost Estimates in Query Optimization

 Catalog Information Used in Cost Functions

 Information about the size of a file
 number of records (tuples) (r),
 record size (R),
 number of blocks (b)
 blocking factor (bfr)
b=r/bfr
 Information about indexes and indexing attributes of a file
 Number of levels (x) of each multilevel index
 Number of first-level index blocks (bI1)
 Number of distinct values (d) of an attribute
 Selectivity (sl) of an attribute
Semantic Query Optimization
 Semantic Query Optimization:
 Uses constraints specified on the database schema in order to

modify one query into another query that is more efficient to

execute
 Consider the following SQL query,
SELECT E.LNAME, M.LNAME
FROM EMPLOYEE E M
WHERE E.SUPERSSN=M.SSN AND E.SALARY>M.SALARY
 Explanation:
 Suppose that we had a constraint on the database schema that

stated that no employee can earn more than his or her direct
supervisor. If the semantic query optimizer checks for the
existence of this constraint, it need not execute the query at all
because it knows that the result of the query will be empty.
Sample
Sample …
Many Thanks