Optimizing Cursor Performance

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Home » Article Discussions » Article Discussions by Author » Discuss Content Posted by Kalpesh Thaker » Optimizing Cursor Performance

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Optimizing Cursor Performance

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Steve Jones - SSC Editor

Posted Sunday, July 24, 2005 6:17 PM

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Apologies for this. I have removed the article. If links are broken, that it why.

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Forum Etiquette: How to post data/code on a forum to get the best help

Post #203802

Posted Saturday, November 21, 2009 7:11 AM

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hi @all,

i want to know a bit more about cursors and the technical way they are realized. my understanding is, that cursors are pointers on a result-set within the ram. the result-set is small (comparing to the table the rows are from) and the sql which perform the result-set is executed only one time (i hope :o) ), right?
So what we have is a small result-set within a location the cpu has the fastest way to grab rows from this result-set.
why should this cursors (used in for loops) not be more efficient than ordinary sql-queries (in for loops)?

ordinary queries grap the rows from the hard-disk, where the cpu needs more time to grap them. and erery time the sql-query is executed the a full table-scan must be performed to find the row.

abstract:
cursors (used in for loops):
- sql-query to get the result-set is executed one time, to make a result set (in the initialsation-part of procedure)
- one small result-set
- fastest way for a cpu to grap the data, because they are in the ram

ordinary queries (used in for loops):
- executed to get on row per query
- in every execution the whole table has to be scaned to get one row, so there is no result-set to crawl over
- no fast way for the cpu to grap the data, because data is on harddrive

what du you think about what my understanding of cursors is. am i right?
please let me know.

cheers tommy

Post #822880

Posted Saturday, November 21, 2009 7:59 PM

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You should know that wether you are using cursors or a while loop it is still RBAR (a Modenism for Row By Agonizing Row) processing. In almost all cases, converting cursor-based solutions to set-based solutions will result in improved performance and scalability of your code.

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Post #822949

Posted Sunday, November 22, 2009 3:43 PM

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tho.pfaff (11/21/2009)

hi @all,

i want to know a bit more about cursors and the technical way they are realized. my understanding is, that cursors are pointers on a result-set within the ram. the result-set is small (comparing to the table the rows are from) and the sql which perform the result-set is executed only one time (i hope :o) ), right?
So what we have is a small result-set within a location the cpu has the fastest way to grab rows from this result-set.
why should this cursors (used in for loops) not be more efficient than ordinary sql-queries (in for loops)?

ordinary queries grap the rows from the hard-disk, where the cpu needs more time to grap them. and erery time the sql-query is executed the a full table-scan must be performed to find the row.

abstract:
cursors (used in for loops):
- sql-query to get the result-set is executed one time, to make a result set (in the initialsation-part of procedure)
- one small result-set
- fastest way for a cpu to grap the data, because they are in the ram

ordinary queries (used in for loops):
- executed to get on row per query
- in every execution the whole table has to be scaned to get one row, so there is no result-set to crawl over
- no fast way for the cpu to grap the data, because data is on harddrive

what du you think about what my understanding of cursors is. am i right?
please let me know.

cheers tommy

I'm not sure who wrote that for you but it's mostly full of hooie... not all cursors are in ram just like not all non cursors are on disk.

Baiscally, cursors will always be slower than "Set Based" queries because cursors overcome and overwhelm the "natural" way that SQL Server operates.

With only 1 exception in 10,000, you should simply avoid cursors.

--Jeff Moden

"RBAR is pronounced "ree-bar" and is a "Modenism" for "Row-By-Agonizing-Row".

First step towards the paradigm shift of writing Set Based code:
Stop thinking about what you want to do to a row... think, instead, of what you want to do to a column."

For better, quicker answers on T-SQL questions, click on the following...
http://www.sqlservercentral.com/articles/Best+Practices/61537/

For better answers on performance questions, click on the following...
http://www.sqlservercentral.com/articles/SQLServerCentral/66909/

Post #823023

Posted Sunday, November 22, 2009 4:32 PM

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tho.pfaff (11/21/2009)

ordinary queries grap the rows from the hard-disk, where the cpu needs more time to grap them. and erery time the sql-query is executed the a full table-scan must be performed to find the row.

It is not always true that ordinary queries fetches the rows from hard disk.

Regarding full table scan must be performed to find a row, that would be true if the company has a policy of no indexes and would never use an index .... Smile

Smile

Smile

.

Your assumption is wrong Tommy, a full table scan happens when there are no indexes and can be avoided by having appropriate indexes..

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Post #823033

Posted Monday, November 23, 2009 12:45 PM

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Bru Medishetty (11/22/2009)

tho.pfaff (11/21/2009)

ordinary queries grap the rows from the hard-disk, where the cpu needs more time to grap them. and erery time the sql-query is executed the a full table-scan must be performed to find the row.

It is not always true that ordinary queries fetches the rows from hard disk.

Regarding full table scan must be performed to find a row, that would be true if the company has a policy of no indexes and would never use an index .... Smile

Smile

Smile

.

Your assumption is wrong Tommy, a full table scan happens when there are no indexes and can be avoided by having appropriate indexes..

What you said is true, but it seems to me that the question wasn't between a set-based query and cursor, but between a query in a for loop thus making it a RBAR operation rather than set-based.

The question seems to spring from a commonly held belief that if you need a RBAR operation (you almost never do) you are better off "rolling your own" cursors by using a loop that by using a cursor. My testing of this has proven (to me) that if you really need RBAR operation, you are likely better off using a real cursor as opposed to "rolling your own."

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Post #823463

Posted Monday, November 23, 2009 5:41 PM

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I agree with that whole heartedly, DC. I've found that a well written cursor will frequently beat a home grown While Loop just as you said. I'll also add that I think of While Loops as nothing more than "home grown cursors" and have resorted to calling them "cursors" even though that's probably a bit confusing to most. Based on that, allow me to correct what I said in the post previous to this one just to be clear... there are exceptions to every rule but all forms of RBAR (not just cursors) should be avoided if possible. I'll also add that, given a little thought, it's usually possible to avoid them without resorting to just another form of RBAR.

--Jeff Moden

"RBAR is pronounced "ree-bar" and is a "Modenism" for "Row-By-Agonizing-Row".

First step towards the paradigm shift of writing Set Based code:
Stop thinking about what you want to do to a row... think, instead, of what you want to do to a column."

For better, quicker answers on T-SQL questions, click on the following...
http://www.sqlservercentral.com/articles/Best+Practices/61537/

For better answers on performance questions, click on the following...
http://www.sqlservercentral.com/articles/SQLServerCentral/66909/

Post #823579

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