Materialized View
A materialized view is a database object that stores the results of a query as a physical table, providing a precomputed snapshot of data for faster access. Unlike regular views that execute queries on-demand, materialized views persist the data, which can be refreshed periodically or on-demand to reflect changes in the underlying tables. This concept is commonly used in relational databases and data warehousing to optimize query performance for complex or frequently accessed data.
Developers should use materialized views when dealing with slow-running queries on large datasets, such as in reporting, analytics, or dashboards, where real-time data is not critical. They are ideal for scenarios where read performance is prioritized over write latency, as they reduce computational overhead by caching results. For example, in e-commerce platforms, materialized views can pre-aggregate sales data to speed up daily revenue reports without querying raw transaction tables repeatedly.