Common SQL Performance Gotchas in Application Development

When building apps that use a SQL database, it’s easy to run into performance problems without noticing. Many of these issues come from the way queries are written and used in the code. Below are seven common SQL mistakes developers make, why they happen, and how you can avoid them.

Not Using Prepared Statements

One of the most common mistakes is building SQL queries by concatenating strings. This approach not only introduces the risk of SQL injection but also prevents the database from reusing execution plans. Prepared statements or parameterized queries let the database understand the structure of the query ahead of time, which improves performance and security. They also help avoid subtle bugs caused by incorrect string formatting or escaping.

// Vulnerable and inefficient
String userId = "42";
Statement stmt = connection.createStatement();
ResultSet rs = stmt.executeQuery("SELECT * FROM users WHERE id = " + userId);

// Safe and performant
String sql = "SELECT * FROM users WHERE id = ?";
PreparedStatement ps = connection.prepareStatement(sql);
ps.setInt(1, 42);
ResultSet rs = ps.executeQuery();

The N+1 Query Problem

The N+1 problem happens when an application fetches a list of items and then runs a separate query for each item to retrieve related data. For example, fetching a list of users and then querying each user’s posts in a loop. This results in one query to fetch the users and N additional queries for their posts. The fix is to restructure the query using joins or batch-fetching strategies, so all the data can be retrieved in fewer queries.

We have written about it on our blog before: Understanding, identifying and fixing the N+1 query problem

Missing Indexes

When queries filter or join on columns that do not have indexes, the database may need to scan entire tables to find matching rows. This can be very slow, especially as data grows. Adding the right indexes can drastically improve performance. It’s important to monitor slow queries and check whether indexes exist on the columns used in WHERE clauses, JOINs, and ORDER BY clauses.

Here’s how to create an index on an “orders” table for its “customer_id” column:

CREATE INDEX idx_orders_customer_id ON orders(customer_id);

Once the index is added, the query can efficiently find matching rows without scanning the full table.

Retrieving Too Much Data

Using SELECT * to fetch all columns from a table is a common habit, but it often retrieves more data than the application needs. This can increase network load and memory usage. Similarly, not using pagination when retrieving large result sets can lead to long query times and a poor user experience. Always select only the necessary columns and use LIMIT or OFFSET clauses to manage result size.

For example:

String sql = "SELECT id, name, price FROM products LIMIT ? OFFSET ?";
PreparedStatement ps = connection.prepareStatement(sql);
ps.setInt(1, 50);
ps.setInt(2, 0);
ResultSet rs = ps.executeQuery();

Chatty Database Interactions

Some applications make many small queries in a single request cycle, creating high overhead from repeated database access. Each round-trip to the database introduces latency. Here’s an inefficient example:

for (int id : productIds) {
    PreparedStatement ps = connection.prepareStatement(
        "UPDATE products SET price = price * 1.1 WHERE id = ?"
    );
    ps.setInt(1, id);
    ps.executeUpdate();
}

Instead of issuing separate queries, it’s often better to combine them or use batch operations where possible. This reduces the number of database interactions and improves overall throughput:

PreparedStatement ps = connection.prepareStatement(
    "UPDATE products SET price = price * 1.1 WHERE id = ?"
);

for (int id : productIds) {
    ps.setInt(1, id);
    ps.addBatch();
}
ps.executeBatch();

Improper Connection Pooling

Establishing a new connection to the database for every query or request is slow and resource-intensive. Connection pooling allows applications to reuse database connections, avoiding the cost of repeatedly opening and closing them. Applications that do not use pooling efficiently may suffer from connection exhaustion or high latency under load. To avoid this use a connection pooler and configure it with appropriate limits for the workload.

Unbounded Wildcard Searches

Using wildcard searches with patterns like '%term%' in a WHERE clause causes the database to scan the entire table, because indexes cannot be used effectively. These searches are expensive and scale poorly. To handle partial matches more efficiently, consider using full-text search features provided by the database, which are designed for fast text searching. Here’s an example in PosgreSQL:

SELECT * FROM articles
WHERE to_tsvector('english', title) @@ to_tsquery('database');

One of our previous blog posts dives deeper into this topic: Full-text Search with PostgreSQL.

By being mindful of these common pitfalls, you can write SQL that scales well and performs reliably under load. Good database performance isn’t just about writing correct queries – it’s about writing efficient ones.

Have you faced any of these problems before? Every project is different, and we all learn a lot from the challenges we run into. Feel free to share your experiences or tips in the comments. Your story could help someone else improve their app’s performance too.