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Tagline: Tuning the way Oracle´s own experts do it

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Learn through this practical guide to SQL tuning how Oracle´s own experts do it, using a freely downloadable tool called SQLTXPLAIN. This new edition has been expanded to include AWR, Oracle 12c Statistics, interpretation of SQL Monitor reports, Parallel execution, and Exadata-related features. Reading this book and using SQL helps you learn to tune even the most complex SQL, and you´ll learn to do it quickly, without the huge learning curve usually associated with tuning as a whole.

Firmly based in real-world problems, this book helps you reclaim system resources and avoid the most common bottleneck in overall performance, badly tuned SQL. You´ll learn how the optimizer works, how to take advantage of its latest features, and when it´s better to turn them off. Best of all, the book is updated to cover the very latest feature set in Oracle Database 12c.

Covers AWR report integration
Helps with SQL Monitor Report Interpretation
Provides a reliable method that is repeatable
Shows the very latest tuning features in Oracle Database 12c
Enables the building of test cases without affecting production
What You´ll Learn

Identify how and why complex SQL has gone wrong
Correctly interpret AWR reports generated via SQLTXPLAIN
Collect the best statistics for your environment
Know when to invoke built-in tuning facilities
Recognize when tuning is not the solution
Spot the steps in a SQL statement´s execution plan that are critical to performance of that statement
Modify your SQL to solve performance problems and increase the speed and throughput of production database systems Who This Book Is For
Anyone who deals with SQL and SQL tuning. Both developers and DBAs will benefit from learning how to use the SQLTXPLAIN tool, and from the problem solving methodology in this book.

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1. Introduction
2. AWR: Your Guide on What to do Next
3. The Cost-Based Optimizer Environment
4. How Object Statistics Can Make Your Execution Plan Wrong
5. How Skewness Can Make Your Execution Times Variable 6. Collecting Good Oracle 12c Statistics
7. Tracing CBO Decisions, Hints and Query Transformations using 10053
8. Forcing Execution Plans Through Profiles 9. Adaptive Cursor Sharing
10. How To Work with Adaptive Plans 11. Dynamic Statistics 12. Directives and Statistics Feedback 13. Parallel Execution 14. SQL Monitor Active Reports
15. Using SQLTXPLAIN with an Active Data Environment
16. Building Good Test Cases
17. Using XPLORE to Investigate Unexpected Plan Changes
18. Trace Files, TRCANLZR and Modifying SQLT Behavior
19. Comparing Execution Plans
20. Running a Health Check 21. The Final Word 22. Appendix A. Installing SQLTXPLAIN 23. Appendix B. The CBO Parameters (11.2.0.1) 24. Appendix C. Tool Configuration Parameters and the Express Methods

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Stelios Charalambides has more than 20 years experience working with Oracle databases. He is OCP certified and has worked as a senior Consultant and database administrator (DBA) on both sides of the Atlantic. His experience includes dealing with all aspects of system design, implementation and post production support, solving practical problems in a wide variety of environments. He works as an Exadata Oracle Support Engineer developing time-critical solutions for tier-one customers with high profile performance problems.

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