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Databases & SQL vocabulary · Indexes and Query Performance

Partitioning

Meaning in databases & SQL, with examples

/pɑːrˈtɪʃənɪŋ/nounAdvanced term

In databases & SQL, partitioning means: Dividing one large table into smaller pieces, called partitions, by a rule such as date range or region, while it still looks like one table to queries.

In Turkish: bölümleme, partitioning

How it is used

Common types are range, list and hash partitioning. Benefits include partition pruning (queries skip irrelevant partitions) and easy removal of old data by dropping a whole partition instead of deleting millions of rows.

Example sentences

  1. Monthly partitioning lets us drop last year's logs in a second.

  2. Partitioning only helps if your queries filter on the partition key.

Common collocations

  • range partitioning
  • partition key
  • partition pruning
  • drop a partition
  • shardingSplitting one large dataset across several database servers, each holding a different part of the rows, so the system can grow beyond one machine.
  • indexAn extra data structure built on one or more columns that lets the database find rows quickly without reading the whole table, like the index at the back of a book.
  • query tuningThe work of making slow queries faster by studying their execution plans and then adding indexes, rewriting SQL or changing database settings.
  • tableA structure in a relational database that stores data about one kind of thing in rows and columns, for example all customers or all orders.

This word in other fields

The same English word can have a different meaning in another field:

More terms: Indexes and Query Performance

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