Correlated Sub-Query vs.

Case Statement - CodeProject

1 of 7

http://www.codeproject.com/Articles/63929/Correlated-Sub-Query-vs-C...

11,873,901 members (61,214 online)

Sign in

Search for articles, questions, tips

home

articles

quick answers

discussions

features

community

help

Articles Database Database SQL

Correlated Sub-Query vs. Case Statement

Andy_L_J, 7 Mar 2010

CPOL

Rate this:

3.00 (6 votes)
A simple case study to compare the efficiency of using a Sub-Query vs a Case statement to perform data aggregation.

Download sample - 1.78 KB

Introduction
This is a simple case study to compare the efficiency of using a correlated Sub-Query or a case statement to perform data aggregation.

Background
Here is a common scenario: I have a news web-site that displays stories grouped by the usual categories:
World news
Local news
Sport
Lifestyle
Etc.
When a user leaves the site, the number of page views for each news item are stored in the database.
Hide Copy Code

INSERT PageHits( News_ID, HitDate, NoHits )

VALUES(@News_ID, @Date, @Hits)
Now, the powers that control the pay-check have asked for some reporting to be done on this information. Namely, they want to know
the number of page hits by news category for each date in a range.
World
News

Local
Sport

World
Sport

Business Lifestyle Crime Weather

Total
Hits

2010-02-25 1

2010-02-26 1

36

44

2010-02-27 35

10

47

Date

Local
News

To demonstrate the steps required, let's build a simple sample database named NewsSite:
Hide Shrink

Copy Code

USE Master
GO
CREATE DATABASE NewsSite
Go
-- Now add some tables...

6/11/2015 1:03 AM

Correlated Sub-Query vs. Case Statement - CodeProject

2 of 7

http://www.codeproject.com/Articles/63929/Correlated-Sub-Query-vs-C...

USE NewsSite
GO
CREATE TABLE Category(
ID INT IDENTITY(1,1) NOT NULL PRIMARY KEY,
Name VARCHAR(30) UNIQUE NOT NULL
)
GO
CREATE TABLE NewsItem(
ID INT IDENTITY(1,1) NOT NULL PRIMARY KEY,
Cat_ID INT NOT NULL FOREIGN KEY REFERENCES Category(ID),
ItemDate DATETIME NOT NULL DEFAULT GETDATE(),
Name VarChar(100) NOT NULL
)
GO
CREATE TABLE NewsHits(
ID INT IDENTITY(1,1) NOT NULL PRIMARY KEY,
Date DateTime Not Null Default GETDATE(),
News_ID INT NOT NULL FOREIGN KEY REFERENCES NewsItem(ID),
Hits INT NOT NULL
)
GO
Now we add some dummy data (I will skip some of the boring stuff, but you will get the picture...
Hide Shrink

Copy Code

USE NewsSite
GO
-- Category Table
INSERT Category(Name)
VALUES('Local News')
INSERT Category(Name)
VALUES('World News')
INSERT Category(Name)
VALUES('Local Sport')
INSERT Category(Name)
VALUES('World Sport')
INSERT Category(Name)
VALUES('Business')
INSERT Category(Name)
VALUES('Lifestyle')
INSERT Category(Name)
VALUES('Crime')
INSERT Category(Name)
VALUES('Weather')
-- NewsItem Table
INSERT NewsItem(Cat_ID, ItemDate, ItemTitle)
VALUES(1, '2/27/2010','Man Bites Dog')
INSERT NewsItem(Cat_ID, ItemDate, ItemTitle)
VALUES(1, '2/27/2010','Rat Bites Cat')
INSERT NewsItem(Cat_ID, ItemDate, ItemTitle)
VALUES(3, '2/27/2010','Rugby League Player Not in Trouble')
INSERT NewsItem(Cat_ID, ItemDate, ItemTitle)
VALUES(4, '2/27/2010','NFL Player Goes to Jail')
-- ...
-- ...
INSERT NewsItem(Cat_ID, ItemDate, ItemTitle)
VALUES(5, '2/27/2010','USD Plummets')
INSERT NewsItem(Cat_ID, ItemDate, ItemTitle)
VALUES(7, '2/27/2010','Murder in East LA')
INSERT NewsItem(Cat_ID, ItemDate, ItemTitle)
VALUES(8, '2/27/2010','Chile Tsunami Warning')
-- NewsHits Table
INSERT NewsHits(Date,
VALUES('2/25/2010',
INSERT NewsHits(Date,
VALUES('2/25/2010',
INSERT NewsHits(Date,
VALUES('2/25/2010',
-- ...
-- ...
INSERT NewsHits(Date,
VALUES('2/27/2010',
INSERT NewsHits(Date,
VALUES('2/26/2010',
Go

News_ID, Hits)
1, 2)
News_ID, Hits)
3, 1)
News_ID, Hits)
7, 4)

News_ID, Hits)
2, 2)
News_ID, Hits)
4, 7)

6/11/2015 1:03 AM

Correlated Sub-Query vs. Case Statement - CodeProject

3 of 7

http://www.codeproject.com/Articles/63929/Correlated-Sub-Query-vs-C...

The Correlated Sub_Query

Here it is in all it's glory - avert your eyes if they are easily damaged:
Hide Shrink

Copy Code

USE NewsSite
GO
-- Outer Query
SELECT nh.Date,

CASE ISNULL(ln.LocalNews, 0)
WHEN 0 THEN 0
ELSE ln.LocalNews
END AS LocalNews,
CASE ISNULL(wn.WorldNews, 0)
WHEN 0 THEN 0
ELSE wn.WorldNews
END AS WorldNews,
CASE ISNULL(ls.LocalSport, 0)
WHEN 0 THEN 0
ELSE ls.LocalSport
END AS LocalSport,
CASE ISNULL(ws.WorldSport, 0)
WHEN 0 THEN 0
ELSE ws.WorldSport
END AS WorldSport,
CASE ISNULL(b.Business, 0)
WHEN 0 THEN 0
ELSE b.Business
END AS Business,
CASE ISNULL(l.Lifestyle, 0)
WHEN 0 THEN 0
ELSE l.Lifestyle
END AS LifeStyle,
CASE ISNULL(c.Crime, 0)
WHEN 0 THEN 0
ELSE c.Crime
END AS Crime,
CASE ISNULL(w.Weather, 0)
WHEN 0 THEN 0
ELSE w.Weather
END AS Weather,
SUM(nh.Hits) As TotalHits

FROM NewsHits nh
-- Inner Queries...
LEFT JOIN (SELECT nhh.Date, SUM(nhh.Hits) As LocalNews
FROM NewsHits nhh
JOIN NewsItem nii
ON nhh.News_ID = nii.ID
JOIN Category cc
ON nii.Cat_ID = cc.ID
WHERE cc.Name = 'Local News'
GROUP BY nhh.Date) ln
ON nh.Date = ln.Date
LEFT JOIN ( SELECT nhh.Date, SUM(nhh.Hits)
FROM NewsHits nhh
JOIN NewsItem nii
ON nhh.News_ID = nii.ID
JOIN Category cc
ON nii.Cat_ID = cc.ID
WHERE cc.Name = 'World News'
GROUP BY nhh.Date) wn
ON nh.Date = wn.Date

As WorldNews

LEFT JOIN ( SELECT nhh.Date, SUM(nhh.Hits) As LocalSport

FROM NewsHits nhh
JOIN NewsItem nii
ON nhh.News_ID = nii.ID
JOIN Category cc
ON nii.Cat_ID = cc.ID
WHERE cc.Name = 'Local Sport'
GROUP BY nhh.Date) ls
ON nh.Date = ls.Date
LEFT JOIN ( SELECT nhh.Date, SUM(nhh.Hits) As WorldSport
FROM NewsHits nhh
JOIN NewsItem nii
ON nhh.News_ID = nii.ID
JOIN Category cc

6/11/2015 1:03 AM

Correlated Sub-Query vs. Case Statement - CodeProject

4 of 7

http://www.codeproject.com/Articles/63929/Correlated-Sub-Query-vs-C...

ON nii.Cat_ID = cc.ID
WHERE cc.Name = 'World Sport'
GROUP BY nhh.Date) ws
ON nh.Date = ws.Date
LEFT JOIN ( SELECT nhh.Date, SUM(nhh.Hits) As Business
FROM NewsHits nhh
JOIN NewsItem nii
ON nhh.News_ID = nii.ID
JOIN Category cc
ON nii.Cat_ID = cc.ID
WHERE cc.Name = 'Business'
GROUP BY nhh.Date) b
ON nh.Date = b.Date
LEFT JOIN ( SELECT nhh.Date, SUM(nhh.Hits) As Crime
FROM NewsHits nhh
JOIN NewsItem nii
ON nhh.News_ID = nii.ID
JOIN Category cc
ON nii.Cat_ID = cc.ID
WHERE cc.Name = 'Crime'
GROUP BY nhh.Date) c
ON nh.Date = c.Date
LEFT JOIN ( SELECT nhh.Date, SUM(nhh.Hits) As Weather
FROM NewsHits nhh
JOIN NewsItem nii
ON nhh.News_ID = nii.ID
JOIN Category cc
ON nii.Cat_ID = cc.ID
WHERE cc.Name = 'Weather'
GROUP BY nhh.Date) w
ON nh.Date = w.Date
LEFT JOIN ( SELECT nhh.Date, SUM(nhh.Hits) As LifeStyle
FROM NewsHits nhh
JOIN NewsItem nii
ON nhh.News_ID = nii.ID
JOIN Category cc
ON nii.Cat_ID = cc.ID
WHERE cc.Name = 'Lifestyle'
GROUP BY nhh.Date) l
ON nh.Date = l.Date
WHERE nh.Date BETWEEN '2/24/2010' AND '2/28/2010'
GROUP BY nh.Date, ln.LocalNews, wn.WorldNews, ls.LocalSport,
ws.WorldSport, b.Business, c.Crime, w.Weather,
l.LifeStyle
GO
Ugly, isn't it? And according to my more learned friends, not a particularly brutal version of the species!
It is pretty simple to follow, the outer query returns the results of the sub-queries for each date in the range. Run the sample script and
you will see output similar to the table above. I was quite happy to use this (or something similar but worse looking) in a production
environment when it was kindly pointed out that, in this case at least, I may be better served by using a simpler CASE statement
construct.

The CASE Statement

Hide Shrink

Copy Code

USE NewsSite
Go
SELECT nh.[Date],
SUM(CASE WHEN
THEN
SUM(CASE WHEN
THEN
SUM(CASE WHEN
THEN
SUM(CASE WHEN
THEN
SUM(CASE WHEN
THEN
SUM(CASE WHEN
THEN
SUM(CASE WHEN

c.Name = 'Local News'

nh.Hits ELSE 0 END) AS
c.Name = 'World News'
nh.Hits ELSE 0 END) AS
c.Name = 'Local Sport'
nh.Hits ELSE 0 END) AS
c.Name = 'World Sport'
nh.Hits ELSE 0 END) AS
c.Name = 'Business'
nh.Hits ELSE 0 END) AS
c.Name = 'Lifestyle'
nh.Hits ELSE 0 END) AS
c.Name = 'Crime'

'Local News',
'World News',
'Local Sport',
'World Sport',
'Business',
'Lifestyle',

6/11/2015 1:03 AM

Correlated Sub-Query vs. Case Statement - CodeProject

5 of 7

http://www.codeproject.com/Articles/63929/Correlated-Sub-Query-vs-C...

THEN nh.Hits ELSE 0 END) AS 'Crime',

SUM(CASE WHEN c.Name = 'Weather'
THEN nh.Hits ELSE 0 END) AS 'Weather',
SUM(nh.Hits) As [Total Hits]
FROM NewsHits nh
JOIN NewsItem ni
ON ni.ID = nh.News_ID
JOIN Category c
ON ni.Cat_ID = c.ID
WHERE nh.[Date] BETWEEN '2/24/2010' AND '2/28/2010'
GROUP BY nh.[Date]
GO
That's a lot better, easier on the eye, and easier to understand at a glance.
The clincher comes when examining the execution times of the queries:
SP Results

CSQ

CASE

Number of SELECT statements

Rows returned by SELECT statements

Number of Transactions

Number of server roundtrips

TDS packets sent from client

TDS packets received from server

Bytes sent from client

8748

1990

Bytes received from server

435

445

Client processing time (ms)

1.2

4.3

Total execution time (ms)

9.6

5.2

Wait time on server replies (ms)

8.4

0.9

Number of INSERT, DELETE and

UPDATE statements

Rows affected by INSERT, DELETE and

UPDATE statements

Network Statistics

Time Statistics

The CASE statement runs nearly twice as fast as the Correlated Sub-Query example (9.6 ms vs 5.5 ms).
The CSQ spent 1.2 ms processing on the client and then 8.4 sec waiting on the server, whereas the CASE example spends 4.2 ms
processing on the client and then a miniscule 0.9 ms waiting for the server.
This may not be significant in this small example, but in a situation where there may be thousands or more records, the CSQ starts to fade
into the distance in this race.
Using a similar structure on a large dataset, the CASE example was more than 100X faster than the CSQ. Granted, after adding an index
or two, I was able to reduce this to about 16:1.

Don't Jump Too Fast...

While I was able to substitute a different method in this case, it may not always be possible because of joined table structures, etc. and
you may be 'forced' to use the Correlated Sub-Query instead. If you do go down this path, remember to set the appropriate indexes to
ensure your query runs as efficiently as possible.

Points of Interest
This article came about because of a short discussion in the General Database Forum, and shows how the first "good' idea you may have
when it comes to a solution may not always be the best one.
Oh, and CodeProject is a great technical resource, frequented by some talented and generous people - thanks to Mycroft Holmes and
i.jrussell for pointing me down this path.

History

6/11/2015 1:03 AM

Correlated Sub-Query vs. Case Statement - CodeProject

6 of 7

http://www.codeproject.com/Articles/63929/Correlated-Sub-Query-vs-C...

Version 1

License
This article, along with any associated source code and files, is licensed under The Code Project Open License (CPOL)

Share
EMAIL

TWITTER

About the Author

Andy_L_J
Other
Australia
Born in New Zealand and transported to Australia for crimes against good taste in the eighties.
Employed by large Manufacturing Co to Coordinate Production Processes, Integrate new
technologies, Implement new, in-house MRP/ERP.
Out of my depth, challenged and love it.
Summer Soccer: http://www.pipekingsharkssummersoccer.com.au

You may also be interested in...

Linear correlation and statistical
functions

The Business Case for Earlier

Software Defect Detection and
Compliance

Establishing Correlation Between

Multiple RECEIVE in WF4

SAPrefs - Netscape-like Preferences

Dialog

Efficient Message Correlation in

MSMQ

XNA Snooker Club

Comments and Discussions

You must Sign In to use this message board.

6/11/2015 1:03 AM

Correlated Sub-Query vs. Case Statement - CodeProject

7 of 7

http://www.codeproject.com/Articles/63929/Correlated-Sub-Query-vs-C...

Go

Search Comments
Profile popups

Spacing Relaxed

Layout Normal

Per page 25

Update

First Prev Next

Pivoting

christopherliu

Re: Pivoting

30-Mar-10 12:41

Andy_L_J

Re: Pivoting

2-Apr-10 14:22

Christopher Liu

Re: Pivoting

6-Apr-10 7:01

Andy_L_J

6-Apr-10 20:59

I didn't know you could do that with a CASE statement.

Ashaman

19-Mar-10 3:58

My vote of 1

Sandeep Mewara

8-Mar-10 2:54

Andy_L_J

8-Mar-10 8:13

Re: My vote of 1
Re: My vote of 1 [modified]

Last Visit: 31-Dec-99 19:00

General

News

TheGuru37

8-Mar-10 16:11

Last Update: 5-Nov-15 4:22

Suggestion

Question

Refresh

Bug

Answer

Joke

Praise

Rant

Admin

Use Ctrl+Left/Right to switch messages, Ctrl+Up/Down to switch threads, Ctrl+Shift+Left/Right to switch pages.

Permalink | Advertise | Privacy | Terms of Use | Mobile

Web01 | 2.8.151103.1 | Last Updated 8 Mar 2010

Layout: fixed | fluid

Article Copyright 2010 by Andy_L_J

Everything else Copyright CodeProject, 1999-2015

6/11/2015 1:03 AM