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by richardeb 1902 days ago
Advice would have to be tailored to specific database technologies and probably specific versions.

For example, in Apache Impala and Spark, "Prefer = to LIKE" is good advice, especially in join conditions, where an equijoin would allow the query planner to use a Hash Join, whereas a non equijoin limits the query planner to a Nested Loop join.

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This is ultimately my problem with databases. We use the term as a catchall, but every implementation is different and is unified only in that they store tables and can respond to SQL.

People treat deciding your app will have a database as a design decision when in reality it is only about 10% of a design decision.

That's a challenge with meatspace infrastructure too. You can have a standardized design for (e.g.) an airport, but "commercial jets" actually represents a wide variety of vehicles with different needs and tolerances, so all designs have to be adapted to the specific circumstances.