Section 1: Query Processing Fundamentals

To understand how to write solid, performant T-SQL, users should know how SQL Server runs T-SQL syntax to deliver the intended result sets in a scalable fashion. This section introduces the reader to concepts that are used throughout the remaining sections of this book to explain most patterns and anti-patterns, as well as mitigation strategies.

The following chapters are included in this section:

• Chapter 1, Anatomy of a Query
• Chapter 2, Understanding Query Processing 
• Chapter 3, Mechanics of the Query Optimizer