Full Indexing
Full indexing is a database optimization technique where an index is created on every column of a table, allowing for fast query performance on any column without full table scans. It involves generating and maintaining separate data structures (like B-trees or hash maps) that map column values to their corresponding row locations, enabling efficient lookups, sorting, and filtering operations. This approach is commonly used in search engines, data warehouses, and applications requiring high-speed data retrieval across multiple query patterns.
Developers should implement full indexing in scenarios where read performance is critical and queries frequently target various columns, such as in analytical databases, e-commerce platforms with complex search filters, or real-time reporting systems. It reduces query latency by avoiding costly full table scans, but it's essential to balance this with the overhead of increased storage and slower write operations due to index maintenance. Use it when the benefits of faster reads outweigh the costs of additional storage and write performance degradation.