Description

In this episode we attempt to explain query optimization and where it came from.  In particular we discuss Patricia Selinger's 1979 SIGMOD paper Access Path Selection in a Relational Database Management System. 

• Access Path Selection paper (PDF)
• A Conversation with Pat Selinger — ACM Queue (2006)
• Database Dialogue with Pat Selinger — CACM (2008)
• Pat Selinger Speaks Out — SIGMOD Interview (PDF)
• Patricia Selinger — IBM History
• System R: Database Research Retrospective — TODS 1981
• Graefe, G. (1995). The Cascades Framework for Query Optimization 
• Leis et al. (2015). How Good Are Query Optimizers, Really? PVLDB Vol. 9 — introduces the Join Order Benchmark (JOB) and empirically audits modern optimizers.

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