What is Secondary Indexing in Databases?
Secondary indexing is a database management technique used to create additional indexes on data stored in a database. The main purpose of secondary indexing is to improve the performance of queries and to simplify the search for specific records within a database. A secondary index provides an alternate means of accessing data in a database, in addition to the primary index. The primary index is typically created when the database is created and is used as the primary means of accessing data in the database. Secondary indexes, on the other hand, can be created and dropped at any time, allowing for greater flexibility in managing the database.
Secondary Indexing in Databases
Pre-requisites: Primary Indexing in Databases
Databases are a critical component of modern applications, storing vast amounts of data and serving as a source of information for various functions. One of the primary challenges in managing databases is providing efficient access to the stored data. To meet this challenge, database management systems use various techniques, including indexing, to improve the performance of data retrieval operations. Indexing is a method that creates a separate structure, referred to as an index, from the data stored in a database. The purpose of an index is to allow for fast access to data without having to search through the entire dataset. There are several types of indexes, including primary indexes and secondary indexes.