Take a deep dive into perhaps the single most important facet of query performance—indexes—and how to best use them. Newly updated for SQL Server 2022 and Azure SQL, this fourth edition includes new guidance and features related to columnstore indexes, improved and consolidated content on Query Store, deeper content around Intelligent Query Processing, and other updates to help you optimize query execution and make performance improvements to even the most challenging workloads. The book begins with explanations of the types of indexes and how they are stored in a database. Moving further into the book, you will learn how statistics are critical for optimal index usage and how the Index Advisor can assist in reviewing and optimizing index health. This book helps you build a clear understanding of how indexes work, how to implement and use them, and the many options available to tame even the most large and complex workloads.What You Will Learn Properly index row store, columnstore, and memory-optimized tables Make use of Intelligent Query Processing for faster query results Review statistics to understand indexing choices made by the optimizer Apply indexing strategies such as covering indexes, included columns, and index intersections Recognize and remove unnecessary indexes Design effective indexes for full-text, spatial, and XML data types Who This Book Is ForAzure SQL and SQL Server administrators and developers who are ready to improve the performance of their database environment by thoughtfully building indexes to speed up queries that matter the most and make a difference to the business