RE: oracle can ignore hints

  • From: "Niall Litchfield" <n-litchfield@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
  • To: <Dantow@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
  • Date: Mon, 15 Mar 2004 09:12:55 -0000

Hi Dan

I could perhaps have been clearer.  That the book has been infuriating me is 
definitely *not* intended as implying that it is a bad book, it is my emotional 
reaction to it, and anyway I *like* books that infuriate and challenge me to 
think, even if I end up rejecting the ideas as wrong (and I am definitely not 
at that stage) being wrong in a sensible and logical manner is always 
educational.In any case the book is worth the price of entry alone for the 
following as early as page 4. 

<quote>
There are 3 steps to sql tuning

1. find out which execution plan you are getting
2. change the sql or database to get a different execution plan
3. find out which plan is best. 

</quote> 

Followed by the (hopefully obvious) discussion of the illogicality of the order 
of this approach. Stated like this it is obvious that most tuning efforts are 
at best wasteful of effort (and indeed could probably be done better by 
software which is great at trying hundreds or thousands of possibilities in a 
scattergun approach). 

Please don't take my comments as overly negative. 

Niall Litchfield
Oracle DBA
Audit Commission
+44 117 975 7805 

P.S. I won't be commenting on the book in this public forum anymore - but I did 
think as it was possible that I seemed harsh on Dan in public I should try to 
clarify in public as well. 



        


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