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Step 16
4 min read

Reducing Subqueries

Learn when to replace subqueries with JOINs for better performance.

Subquery Problem

Subqueries run for each row. This can be slow.

Convert Subquery to JOIN

Slow (subquery runs many times):

SELECT * FROM students WHERE id IN (SELECT student_id FROM enrollments);

Fast (JOIN runs once):

SELECT DISTINCT s.* FROM students s JOIN enrollments e ON s.id = e.student_id;

When Subqueries Are OK

  • Small result sets
  • One-time calculations
  • EXISTS checks

Summary

  • Subqueries in WHERE can be slow
  • Try converting to JOIN
  • Test both, keep the faster one

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