In this blog post, we’ll look at ways you can use MySQL 5.7 generated columns (or virtual columns) to improve query performance.
Introduction
About two years ago I published a blog post about Generated (Virtual) Columns in MySQL 5.7. Since then, it’s been one of my favorite features in the MySQL 5.7 release. The reason is simple: with the help of virtual columns, we can create fine-grained indexes that can significantly increase query performance. I’m going to show you some tricks that can potentially fix slow reporting queries with GROUP BY and ORDER BY.
The Problem
Recently I was working with a customer who was struggling with this query:
SELECT CONCAT(verb, ' - …[Read more]