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最左前缀原理与相关优化

MySQL 中的索引可以以一定顺序引用多个列,这种索引叫做联合索引,一般的,一个联合索引是一个有序元组 <a1, a2, …, an>,其中各个元素均为数据表的一列。另外,单列索引可以看成联合索引元素数为 1 的特例。

我们在 Employees Sample Database 中实验,MySQL 版本 5.7。

以 employees.titles 为例,查看其索引:

SHOW INDEX FROM employees.titles;

+--------+------------+----------+--------------+-------------+-----------+-------------+----------+--------+------+------------+---------+---------------+
| Table | Non_unique | Key_name | Seq_in_index | Column_name | Collation | Cardinality | Sub_part | Packed | Null | Index_type | Comment | Index_comment |
+--------+------------+----------+--------------+-------------+-----------+-------------+----------+--------+------+------------+---------+---------------+
| titles | 0 | PRIMARY | 1 | emp_no | A | 301292 | NULL | NULL | | BTREE | | |
| titles | 0 | PRIMARY | 2 | title | A | 442605 | NULL | NULL | | BTREE | | |
| titles | 0 | PRIMARY | 3 | from_date | A | 442605 | NULL | NULL | | BTREE | | |
+--------+------------+----------+--------------+-------------+-----------+-------------+----------+--------+------+------------+---------+---------------+

全列匹配

EXPLAIN SELECT * FROM employees.titles
WHERE
emp_no = '10009'
AND title = 'Senior Engineer'
AND from_date = '1995-02-18';

+----+-------------+--------+------------+-------+---------------+---------+---------+-------------------+------+----------+-------+
| id | select_type | table | partitions | type | possible_keys | key | key_len | ref | rows | filtered | Extra |
+----+-------------+--------+------------+-------+---------------+---------+---------+-------------------+------+----------+-------+
| 1 | SIMPLE | titles | NULL | const | PRIMARY | PRIMARY | 159 | const,const,const | 1 | 100.00 | NULL |
+----+-------------+--------+------------+-------+---------------+---------+---------+-------------------+------+----------+-------+

当按照索引中所有列进行精确匹配(这里精确匹配指 =IN 匹配)时,索引可以被用到。

这里有一点需要注意,理论上索引对顺序是敏感的,但是由于 MySQL 的 查询优化器会自动调整 where 子句的条件顺序 以使用适合的索引,例如我们将 where 中的条件顺序颠倒:

EXPLAIN SELECT * FROM employees.titles
WHERE
from_date = '1995-02-18'
AND emp_no IN ( '10009' )
AND title = 'Senior Engineer';

+----+-------------+--------+------------+-------+---------------+---------+---------+-------------------+------+----------+-------+
| id | select_type | table | partitions | type | possible_keys | key | key_len | ref | rows | filtered | Extra |
+----+-------------+--------+------------+-------+---------------+---------+---------+-------------------+------+----------+-------+
| 1 | SIMPLE | titles | NULL | const | PRIMARY | PRIMARY | 159 | const,const,const | 1 | 100.00 | NULL |
+----+-------------+--------+------------+-------+---------------+---------+---------+-------------------+------+----------+-------+

和上面是一样的。

最左前缀匹配

EXPLAIN SELECT * FROM employees.titles
WHERE
emp_no = '10009';

+----+-------------+--------+------------+------+---------------+---------+---------+-------+------+----------+-------+
| id | select_type | table | partitions | type | possible_keys | key | key_len | ref | rows | filtered | Extra |
+----+-------------+--------+------------+------+---------------+---------+---------+-------+------+----------+-------+
| 1 | SIMPLE | titles | NULL | ref | PRIMARY | PRIMARY | 4 | const | 3 | 100.00 | NULL |
+----+-------------+--------+------------+------+---------------+---------+---------+-------+------+----------+-------+

当查询条件精确匹配索引的 左边连续一个或几个列 时,如 <emp_no><emp_no, title>,所以可以被用到,但是只能用到一部分,即条件所组成的最左前缀。

上面的查询从分析结果看用到了 PRIMARY 索引,但是 key_len 为 4,说明只用到了索引的第一列前缀。

中间某个条件未提供

查询条件用到了索引中列的精确匹配,但是中间某个条件未提供。

EXPLAIN SELECT * FROM employees.titles WHERE emp_no='10009' AND from_date='1995-02-18';

+----+-------------+--------+------------+------+---------------+---------+---------+-------+------+----------+-------------+
| id | select_type | table | partitions | type | possible_keys | key | key_len | ref | rows | filtered | Extra |
+----+-------------+--------+------------+------+---------------+---------+---------+-------+------+----------+-------------+
| 1 | SIMPLE | titles | NULL | ref | PRIMARY | PRIMARY | 4 | const | 1 | 10.00 | Using where |
+----+-------------+--------+------------+------+---------------+---------+---------+-------+------+----------+-------------+

此时索引使用情况和情况二相同,因为 title 未提供,所以查询只用到了索引的第一列,而后面的 from_date 虽然也在索引中,但是由于 title 不存在而无法和左前缀连接,因此需要对结果进行扫描过滤 from_date(这里由于 emp_no 唯一,所以不存在扫描)。

如果想让 from_date 也使用索引而不是 where 过滤,可以增加一个 辅助索引 <emp_no, from_date>,此时上面的查询会使用这个索引。

除此之外,还可以使用一种称之为 隔离列 的优化方法,将 emp_nofrom_date 之间的 填上。

首先我们看下 title 有几种不同的值:

SELECT DISTINCT(title) FROM employees.titles;

只有 7 种。在这种成为 的列值比较少的情况下,可以考虑用 IN 来填补这个 从而形成最左前缀:

EXPLAIN SELECT * FROM employees.titles
WHERE emp_no='10009'
AND title IN ('Senior Engineer', 'Staff', 'Engineer', 'Senior Staff', 'Assistant Engineer', 'Technique Leader', 'Manager')
AND from_date='1995-02-18';

+----+-------------+--------+------------+-------+---------------+---------+---------+------+------+----------+-------------+
| id | select_type | table | partitions | type | possible_keys | key | key_len | ref | rows | filtered | Extra |
+----+-------------+--------+------------+-------+---------------+---------+---------+------+------+----------+-------------+
| 1 | SIMPLE | titles | NULL | range | PRIMARY | PRIMARY | 159 | NULL | 7 | 100.00 | Using where |
+----+-------------+--------+------------+-------+---------------+---------+---------+------+------+----------+-------------+

这次 key_len159,说明索引被用全了,但是从 typerows 看出 IN 实际上执行了一个 range 查询,这里检查了 7 个 key。看下两种查询的性能比较:

SET profiling = 1;
SELECT * FROM... -- 1
SELECT * FROM... -- 2
SHOW PROFILES;

| Query_ID | Duration | Query |
+----------+------------+---------+
| 1 | 0.00083950 | SELECT * ..|
| 2 | 0.00063700 | SELECT * ..|

“填坑” 后性能提升了一点。如果经过 emp_no 筛选后余下很多数据,则后者性能优势会更加明显。当然,如果 title 的值很多,用填坑就不合适了,必须建立辅助索引。(笔者:多次测试后发现是有快有慢,可能是数据的原因,效果并不明显)

查询条件没有指定索引第一列

EXPLAIN SELECT * FROM employees.titles WHERE from_date='1995-02-18';

+----+-------------+--------+------------+------+---------------+------+---------+------+--------+----------+-------------+
| id | select_type | table | partitions | type | possible_keys | key | key_len | ref | rows | filtered | Extra |
+----+-------------+--------+------------+------+---------------+------+---------+------+--------+----------+-------------+
| 1 | SIMPLE | titles | NULL | ALL | NULL | NULL | NULL | NULL | 442605 | 10.00 | Using where |
+----+-------------+--------+------------+------+---------------+------+---------+------+--------+----------+-------------+

由于不是最左前缀,索引这样的查询显然用不到索引。

匹配某列的前缀字符串

EXPLAIN SELECT * FROM employees.titles WHERE emp_no=10009 AND title LIKE 'Senior%';

+----+-------------+--------+------------+-------+---------------+---------+---------+------+------+----------+-------------+
| id | select_type | table | partitions | type | possible_keys | key | key_len | ref | rows | filtered | Extra |
+----+-------------+--------+------------+-------+---------------+---------+---------+------+------+----------+-------------+
| 1 | SIMPLE | titles | NULL | range | PRIMARY | PRIMARY | 156 | NULL | 1 | 100.00 | Using where |
+----+-------------+--------+------------+-------+---------------+---------+---------+------+------+----------+-------------+

此时可以用到索引,如果通配符 % 不出现在开头,则可以用到索引,但根据具体情况不同可能只会用其中一个前缀。

范围查询

EXPLAIN SELECT * FROM employees.titles WHERE emp_no < '10010' and title = 'Senior Engineer';

+----+-------------+--------+------------+-------+---------------+---------+---------+------+------+----------+-------------+
| id | select_type | table | partitions | type | possible_keys | key | key_len | ref | rows | filtered | Extra |
+----+-------------+--------+------------+-------+---------------+---------+---------+------+------+----------+-------------+
| 1 | SIMPLE | titles | NULL | range | PRIMARY | PRIMARY | 4 | NULL | 14 | 10.00 | Using where |
+----+-------------+--------+------------+-------+---------------+---------+---------+------+------+----------+-------------+

范围列可以用到索引(必须是最左前缀),但是范围列后面的列无法用到索引。同时,索引最多用于一个范围列,因此如果查询条件中有两个范围列则无法全用到索引。

EXPLAIN SELECT * FROM employees.titles
WHERE emp_no < '10010'
AND title = 'Senior Engineer'
AND from_date BETWEEN '1986-01-01' AND '1986-12-31';

+----+-------------+--------+------------+-------+---------------+---------+---------+------+------+----------+-------------+
| id | select_type | table | partitions | type | possible_keys | key | key_len | ref | rows | filtered | Extra |
+----+-------------+--------+------------+-------+---------------+---------+---------+------+------+----------+-------------+
| 1 | SIMPLE | titles | NULL | range | PRIMARY | PRIMARY | 4 | NULL | 14 | 1.11 | Using where |
+----+-------------+--------+------------+-------+---------------+---------+---------+------+------+----------+-------------+

可以看到索引对第二个范围索引无能为力。这里特别要说明 MySQL 一个有意思的地方,那就是仅用 explain 可能无法区分 范围索引 和 多值匹配,因为在 type 中这两者都显示为 range

同时,用了 between 并不意味着就是范围查询,例如下面的查询:

EXPLAIN SELECT * FROM employees.titles
WHERE emp_no BETWEEN '10001' AND '10010'
AND title='Senior Engineer'
AND from_date BETWEEN '1986-01-01' AND '1986-12-31';

+----+-------------+--------+------------+-------+---------------+---------+---------+------+------+----------+-------------+
| id | select_type | table | partitions | type | possible_keys | key | key_len | ref | rows | filtered | Extra |
+----+-------------+--------+------------+-------+---------------+---------+---------+------+------+----------+-------------+
| 1 | SIMPLE | titles | NULL | range | PRIMARY | PRIMARY | 159 | NULL | 15 | 1.11 | Using where |
+----+-------------+--------+------------+-------+---------------+---------+---------+------+------+----------+-------------+

看起来是用了两个范围查询,但作用于 emp_no 上的 BETWEEN 实际上相当于 IN,也就是说 emp_no 实际是多值精确匹配。可以看到这个查询用到了索引全部三个列。因此在 MySQL 中要谨慎地区分多值匹配和范围匹配,否则会对 MySQL 的行为产生困惑。

还有个值得注意的事情:

EXPLAIN SELECT * FROM employees.titles where emp_no > 10000 AND emp_no < 10011 AND title='Senior Engineer' AND from_date BETWEEN '1986-01-01' AND '1986-12-31';

+----+-------------+--------+------------+-------+---------------+---------+---------+------+------+----------+-------------+
| id | select_type | table | partitions | type | possible_keys | key | key_len | ref | rows | filtered | Extra |
+----+-------------+--------+------------+-------+---------------+---------+---------+------+------+----------+-------------+
| 1 | SIMPLE | titles | NULL | range | PRIMARY | PRIMARY | 4 | NULL | 15 | 1.11 | Using where |
+----+-------------+--------+------------+-------+---------------+---------+---------+------+------+----------+-------------+

EXPLAIN SELECT * FROM employees.titles where emp_no >= 10001 and emp_no <= 10010 AND title='Senior Engineer' AND from_date BETWEEN '1986-01-01' AND '1986-12-31';

+----+-------------+--------+------------+-------+---------------+---------+---------+------+------+----------+-------------+
| id | select_type | table | partitions | type | possible_keys | key | key_len | ref | rows | filtered | Extra |
+----+-------------+--------+------------+-------+---------------+---------+---------+------+------+----------+-------------+
| 1 | SIMPLE | titles | NULL | range | PRIMARY | PRIMARY | 159 | NULL | 15 | 1.11 | Using where |
+----+-------------+--------+------------+-------+---------------+---------+---------+------+------+----------+-------------+

疑问:= 影响 范围索引 还是 多值匹配?

查询条件中含有函数或表达式

很不幸,如果查询条件中含有函数或表达式,则 MySQL 不会为这列使用索引(虽然某些在数学意义上可以使用)。例如:

EXPLAIN SELECT * FROM employees.titles WHERE emp_no='10009' AND left(title, 6)='Senior';

+----+-------------+--------+------------+------+---------------+---------+---------+-------+------+----------+-------------+
| id | select_type | table | partitions | type | possible_keys | key | key_len | ref | rows | filtered | Extra |
+----+-------------+--------+------------+------+---------------+---------+---------+-------+------+----------+-------------+
| 1 | SIMPLE | titles | NULL | ref | PRIMARY | PRIMARY | 4 | const | 3 | 100.00 | Using where |
+----+-------------+--------+------------+------+---------------+---------+---------+-------+------+----------+-------------+

虽然这个查询和情况五中功能相同,但是由于使用了函数 left,则无法为 title 列应用索引,而情况五中用 LIKE 则可以。

EXPLAIN SELECT * FROM employees.titles WHERE emp_no - 1 = 10000;

+----+-------------+--------+------------+------+---------------+------+---------+------+--------+----------+-------------+
| id | select_type | table | partitions | type | possible_keys | key | key_len | ref | rows | filtered | Extra |
+----+-------------+--------+------------+------+---------------+------+---------+------+--------+----------+-------------+
| 1 | SIMPLE | titles | NULL | ALL | NULL | NULL | NULL | NULL | 442605 | 100.00 | Using where |
+----+-------------+--------+------------+------+---------------+------+---------+------+--------+----------+-------------+

显然这个查询等价于查询 emp_no10001 的函数,但是由于查询条件是一个表达式,MySQL 无法为其使用索引。看来 MySQL 还没有智能到自动优化常量表达式的程度,因此在写查询语句时尽量避免表达式出现在查询中,而是先手工私下代数运算,转换为无表达式的查询语句。

References

– EOF –