Re: Difference between count(1) and count(*)

  • From: Lyndon Tiu <ltiu@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
  • To: oracle-l@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
  • Date: Thu, 8 Jul 2004 07:19:07 -0700

On July 8, 2004 12:20 am, Jared Still wrote:
> On Wed, 2004-07-07 at 23:28, Lyndon Tiu wrote:
> > On Thu, 8 Jul 2004 11:27:28 +0530 oracle-l@xxxxxxxxxxxxx wrote:
> > > Dear All,
> > > Can you let me know the difference between count(*) and count(1) ?
> >
> > count(1) is supposed to be more efficient and faster.
>
> Notice the qualifier:  'supposed to be'
>
> Was the claim backed up by evidence?
>

No and it seems that this is an oracle only feature. I tried it (count(1)) on 
sql server and it does not work. But it works on postgresql though.

I remember reading this from somewhere, whether it is from an official oracle 
doc or just some db dude on the internet I do not remember. But it seems that 
other oracle db dudes I've met say the same thing, that count(1) is more 
efficient. Maybe it's a lie that's been propagated acrosshundreds of  
generations?

I recall seeing count(1) being faster but then I did not really measure with 
anything more than counting sheep in my head.

We should experiment and get an empirical result. I will see if I find some 
time to research this on oracle official docs myself.

--
Lyndon Tiu
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