Database Index makes life easier by letting users access records from the database table efficiently, and locate data easily. It has a data structure that allows you to search for the records from a database data quickly and more efficiently.Just like a book’s index, it has a record of different data to help you locate exactly want you to search up. This is more like how a book’s index page helps you locate a specific topic or chapter. The three types of database indexes include:
- Clustered index
- Non-clustered indexing
- Multi-level indexing
How Does and Index Looks Like?
An index consists of two columns; the search key and the data pointer. The search key lets you search via keywords while the data pointer helps in storing the disk block address for a specific search key.
Why You Need Database Index
Your index will automate your search for data since it can arrange your records alphabetically. This means that if you have thousands of people to manage and you are looking for a single person, you can conveniently estimate where to find his name on the record through his initial. This eliminates the tedious process or searching up things in many rows.
Organization Methods for Database Indexes
When it comes to organizing database indexes, you can either choose the Ordered Index File Organization method or the Hash File Organization method. The Ordered Index is a traditional method where index data is placed in a particular order and is stored either through Sparse index or Dense index.
On the other hand, the Hash File organization method involves using a harsh function to determine the disc block or location of a particular record.
