Summary

In this chapter, we gained an understanding of query optimization techniques, the query optimizer, and query execution plans.

We then learned about various types of execution plans, namely an Estimated Execution Plan, actual execution plan, and live query statistics. We learned how to generate the Estimated Execution Plan, actual execution plan, and live query statistics with the help of a sample of a query. We learned how to save the query plan in XML format so we can use it later. We learned, with an example, how to compare two execution plans and how to analyze an actual execution query plan for a deeper understanding of the query execution and query plan to troubleshoot the poorly performing queries and address their slowness.

In the next chapter, we will expand our knowledge and understand indexes, index types, and how indexes help to improve the query performance and faster data retrieval.