

Ask HN: Why do relational databases index instead of a separate module/process? - rpedela

Sphinx [1] provides SphinxQL which is a subset of SQL. Assuming you follow Sphinx&#x27;s table formatting rules and SphinxQL can handle your SELECT query then your SELECT query can be much faster than querying the database directly [2].<p>So my question is why not create something like Sphinx, but have it focused on indexing relational databases for the purposes of generic SELECT statements? Is this a good idea? Would this be faster? Why or why not?<p>[1] http:&#x2F;&#x2F;sphinxsearch.com&#x2F;<p>[2] http:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.mysqlperformanceblog.com&#x2F;2009&#x2F;04&#x2F;19&#x2F;talking-mysql-to-sphinx&#x2F;
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anywherenotes
To answer your question "Why do relational databases index instead of a
separate module/process?", you can see this quote from [2] that you linked:
"it is clear when you can use index for sort MySQL will be a lot faster."

Relational databases are very fast when they can use indexes.

