Filtering with WHERE

Improving Query Performance in SQL Server

Dean Smith

Founder, Atamai Analytics

How WHERE works

SELECT *
FROM PlayerStats
WHERE Position = 'SG'

PlayerStats Table

How WHERE works

SELECT *
FROM PlayerStats
WHERE Position = 'SG'

Filtered PlayerStats Table

WHERE processing order

SELECT PlayerName, 
      Team, 
      (DRebound+ORebound) AS TotalRebounds
FROM PlayerStats
WHERE TotalRebounds >= 1000
ORDER BY TotalRebounds DESC;

WHERE is processed before SELECT

-- ERROR
Invalid column name 'TotalRebounds'.

Using a sub-query

SELECT PlayerName, 
       Team, 
       TotalRebounds
FROM
     -- Start of sub-query tr
    (SELECT PlayerName, Team, 
             (DRebound+ORebound) AS TotalRebounds
     FROM PlayerStats) tr
WHERE TotalRebounds >= 1000 -- created in the sub-query
ORDER BY TotalRebounds DESC;

Using a sub-query

SELECT PlayerName, 
       Team, 
       TotalRebounds
FROM
     -- Start of sub-query tr
    (SELECT PlayerName, Team, 
             (DRebound+ORebound) AS TotalRebounds
     FROM PlayerStats) tr
WHERE TotalRebounds >= 1000 -- created in the sub-query
ORDER BY TotalRebounds DESC;

PlayerName	Team	TotalRebounds
Andre Drummond	DET	1247
DeAndre Jordan	LAC	1171
Karl-Anthony Towns	MIN	1012
Dwight Howard	CHO	1012

Calculations on columns

SELECT PlayerName, 
       Team, 
       (DRebound+ORebound) AS TotalRebounds
FROM PlayerStats
WHERE (DRebound+ORebound) >= 1000
ORDER BY TotalRebounds DESC;

Calculations on columns in the WHERE filter condition could increase query times

PlayerName	Team	TotalRebounds
Andre Drummond	DET	1247
DeAndre Jordan	LAC	1171
Karl-Anthony Towns	MIN	1012
Dwight Howard	CHO	1012

Functions on columns

SELECT PlayerName, College, DraftYear 
FROM Players
WHERE UPPER(LEFT(College,7)) = 'GEORGIA'; 
-- unnecessary use of functions 
-- on a filtering column

Applying functions to columns in the WHERE filter condition could increase query times

PlayerName	College	DraftYear
Damien Wilkins	Georgia
Derrick Favors	Georgia Tech	2010
Iman Shumpert	Georgia Tech	2011
R.J. Hunter	Georgia State	2015
...	...	...

WHERE simplified

SELECT PlayerName, College, DraftYear 
FROM Players 
        -- No calculation or function
WHERE College like 'Georgia%';

PlayerName	College	DraftYear
Damien Wilkins	Georgia
Derrick Favors	Georgia Tech	2010
Iman Shumpert	Georgia Tech	2011
R.J. Hunter	Georgia State	2015
...	...	...

Summary

WHERE is processed before SELECT
Calculations on columns in the WHERE filter condition could increase query times
Applying functions to columns in the WHERE filter condition could increase query times

Let's practice!

Improving Query Performance in SQL Server