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Vijaykumar_Patil
Posting Yak Master
India
121 Posts |
 Posted - 03/27/2007 : 02:30:32
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Hi all,
I have a small argument with friend here regarding use of alias names for tables will affect the performance of the query in case of a large database. Please provide your thoughts on the same.
Necessity is the mother of all inventions! |
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SwePeso
Patron Saint of Lost Yaks
Sweden
29138 Posts |
Posted - 03/27/2007 : 02:32:09
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The one who says "no" wins...
Peter Larsson
Helsingborg, Sweden |
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Vijaykumar_Patil
Posting Yak Master
India
121 Posts |
Posted - 03/27/2007 : 02:46:35
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Thank you Peter Larsson
I win than.
Necessity is the mother of all inventions! |
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AndrewMurphy
Flowing Fount of Yak Knowledge
Ireland
2915 Posts |
Posted - 03/27/2007 : 05:30:03
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| but the one who says "aliases improve readability"...wins that other arguement!!! |
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Vijaykumar_Patil
Posting Yak Master
India
121 Posts |
Posted - 03/27/2007 : 06:44:27
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Sorry Andrew we were only arguing on performance of the query on very large databases. We both agree that readability is improved.
Necessity is the mother of all inventions! |
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blindman
Flowing Fount of Yak Knowledge
USA
2365 Posts |
Posted - 03/27/2007 : 13:19:57
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quote:
Originally posted by AndrewMurphy
but the one who says "aliases improve readability"...wins that other arguement!!!
Absolutely not. The use of aliases servers more often to make code obscure, and is a crutch for those who cannot type well.
e4 d5 xd5 Nf6 |
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Vijaykumar_Patil
Posting Yak Master
India
121 Posts |
Posted - 03/27/2007 : 13:51:30
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alias would mean some detail reading to be done, but i dont think anything is hidden Blindman.Typing not well is not reason since u always have ctrl+c and ctrl+v.
Necessity is the mother of all inventions! |
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X002548
Not Just a Number
15586 Posts |
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jezemine
Flowing Fount of Yak Knowledge
USA
2871 Posts |
Posted - 03/27/2007 : 13:52:52
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Peso: is there really a perf downside to using aliases? I can't imagine why. wouldn't the parser produce the same parse tree either way? is the query plan affected somehow? any resource links on this topic?
blindman: sometimes less is more. at the cmd prompt, do you like to type dir, or would you rather type PleaseGiveMeListOfFilesAndDirectoriesInThisDirectory? 
www.elsasoft.org |
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jsmith8858
Dr. Cross Join
USA
7423 Posts |
Posted - 03/27/2007 : 13:55:16
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quote:
Originally posted by blindman
quote:
Originally posted by AndrewMurphy
but the one who says "aliases improve readability"...wins that other arguement!!!
Absolutely not. The use of aliases servers more often to make code obscure, and is a crutch for those who cannot type well.
e4 d5 xd5 Nf6
you are joking, right?
- Jeff
http://weblogs.sqlteam.com/JeffS
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Michael Valentine Jones
Yak DBA Kernel (pronounced Colonel)
USA
6997 Posts |
Posted - 03/27/2007 : 14:02:07
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Is there anyone who has actually tested alias vs. no alias, or is this just old wives tales and/or anecdotes?
CODO ERGO SUM |
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X002548
Not Just a Number
15586 Posts |
Posted - 03/27/2007 : 14:03:28
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quote:
Originally posted by jsmith8858
quote:
Originally posted by blindman
quote:
Originally posted by AndrewMurphy
but the one who says "aliases improve readability"...wins that other arguement!!!
Absolutely not. The use of aliases servers more often to make code obscure, and is a crutch for those who cannot type well.
e4 d5 xd5 Nf6
you are joking, right?
- Jeff
http://weblogs.sqlteam.com/JeffS
No, he is not...we've had this debate many times over at dbforums
He prefers
SELECT Orders.OrderId FROM Orders
Brett
8-)
Hint: Want your questions answered fast? Follow the direction in this link
http://weblogs.sqlteam.com/brettk/archive/2005/05/25/5276.aspx
Add yourself!
http://www.frappr.com/sqlteam
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Vijaykumar_Patil
Posting Yak Master
India
121 Posts |
Posted - 03/27/2007 : 14:05:21
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I tried testing on a tables which had rows like 1 million each with no indexes. But they seem to work at the same time.
Necessity is the mother of all inventions! |
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blindman
Flowing Fount of Yak Knowledge
USA
2365 Posts |
Posted - 03/27/2007 : 14:07:53
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quote:
Originally posted by jezemine
blindman: sometimes less is more. at the cmd prompt, do you like to type dir, or would you rather type PleaseGiveMeListOfFilesAndDirectoriesInThisDirectory?
www.elsasoft.org
"Dir" is not an alias. It is the name of the command. Would it frustrate you to sit down to debug a new batch file system where the prior developer had renamed the command from "Dir" to "D", to save some typing? How long would it take you to figure out what was going on?
e4 d5 xd5 Nf6 |
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X002548
Not Just a Number
15586 Posts |
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jezemine
Flowing Fount of Yak Knowledge
USA
2871 Posts |
Posted - 03/27/2007 : 14:25:01
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quote:
Originally posted by blindman
quote:
Originally posted by jezemine
blindman: sometimes less is more. at the cmd prompt, do you like to type dir, or would you rather type PleaseGiveMeListOfFilesAndDirectoriesInThisDirectory?
www.elsasoft.org
"Dir" is not an alias. It is the name of the command. Would it frustrate you to sit down to debug a new batch file system where the prior developer had renamed the command from "Dir" to "D", to save some typing? How long would it take you to figure out what was going on?
e4 d5 xd5 Nf6
point taken. you must have been burned by some poorly named aliases in the past.
it doesn't mean the concept is a bad one though. In any case we don't write code to demonstrate or improve our typing skills - we do it mainly because it's loads of fun, right? (except when you have to type out some really long table name...) that's why I do it anyway.
also I refuse to believe that aliases cause a perf problem until someone shows me a credible reference. parsers just don't work that way.
www.elsasoft.org |
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X002548
Not Just a Number
15586 Posts |
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tkizer
Almighty SQL Goddess
USA
35007 Posts |
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X002548
Not Just a Number
15586 Posts |
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mcrowley
Aged Yak Warrior
771 Posts |
Posted - 03/27/2007 : 15:13:05
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| I believe that in a query plan, all names are converted to their object IDs. This includes table names, column names, and as I found after restoring one under a new ID one day, database names as well. The only conceivable argument could have to do with compilation time. You >might< be able to make the case that compilation would be shorter with no aliases at all, but that would be a matter of a few CPU ticks at best, and not worth the effort. |
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jezemine
Flowing Fount of Yak Knowledge
USA
2871 Posts |
Posted - 03/27/2007 : 15:25:43
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talk about premature optimization...
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Topic |
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Alias yes or no for Performance
