Re: Index Scans become Seq Scans after VACUUM ANALYSE

mlw <markw@mohawksoft.com>

From: mlw <markw@mohawksoft.com>
To: Bruce Momjian <pgman@candle.pha.pa.us>
Cc: Andrew Sullivan <andrew@libertyrms.info>, PostgreSQL-development <pgsql-hackers@postgresql.org>, Tom Lane <tgl@sss.pgh.pa.us>
Date: 2002-04-17T22:01:09Z
Lists: pgsql-hackers
Bruce Momjian wrote:

> 
> OK, yes, sequential scan _can_ be as slow as index scan, but sometimes
> it is faster.  Can you provide reasoning why index scan should be
> preferred, other than the admin created it, which I already addressed?

If you have a choice between two or more sub-plans, similar in cost, say within
20% of one another. Choosing a plan which uses an index has a chance of
improved performance if the estimates are wrong where as choosing the
sequential scan will always have the full cost.