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  3. Improving Query Performance in PostgreSQL

Exercise

Using the information schema

The most basic optimization method with column-oriented storage databases is to reduce the number of columns each query returns.

When working with new tables, it is common to select the first 5 or 10 rows. However, a basic select on a wide table may be resource intensive. The information schema provides some column metadata and is a good starting place to learn about your data.

While it does not show as available, views in the information_schema are always available to query. Feel free to explore the columns view in the console to explore what information is available before completing the exercise.

Instructions

100 XP
  • Use the columns view from the information_schema.
  • Select the column_name, data_type, and is_nullable columns.
  • Use table_name to limit results to the daily_aqi table.