Introduction
One of the most important features of relational database management systems—MySQL being no exception—is the use of indexes to allow rapid and efficient access to the enormous amounts of data they keep safe for us. In this chapter, we will provide some useful recipes for you to get the most out of your databases.
We have got accustomed to nearly infinite storage space at our disposal—storing everything from music to movies to high resolution medical imagery, detailed geographical information, or just plain old business data. While we take it for granted that we hardly ever run out of space, we also expect to be able to locate and retrieve every bit of information we save in an instant. There are examples everywhere in our lives—business and personal:
- Your pocket music player's library can easily contain tens of thousands of songs and yet can be browsed effortlessly by artist name or album title, or show...