Keyset Pagination vs. OFFSET in SQL Server: Which Pagination Method Offers Better Performance?

Optimizing SQL Server paging performance: Comparison of Keyset paging and OFFSET paging

Paging is critical to optimizing database performance when dealing with massive data sets. The OFFSET paging method commonly used in SQL Server is inefficient when dealing with large tables. This article introduces an effective alternative: Keyset paging.

Keyset paging: the key to performance improvement

Keyset paging significantly outperforms OFFSET paging by allowing the server to navigate directly to a specific location in the index, thus avoiding unnecessary row reads. To use Keyset pagination, make sure there is a unique index that contains all query columns.

How Keyset paging works

Keyset paging does not jump to a specific page number, but uses a unique key. Save the ID of the current page and use it in subsequent queries to retrieve the next page. This method eliminates the "missing row" problem associated with OFFSET pagination.

Keyset paging example

SELECT TOP (@numRows)
  *
FROM TableName
WHERE Id <p><strong>Keyset分页优势</strong></p>

• Efficiency improvement: Keyset paging avoids reading unnecessary lines.
• Prevent missing rows: Unable to delete rows from previously retrieved pages.
• Non-sequential access: Pages can be accessed in any order.

Notes

Keyset paging requires a unique index. If paging by a non-unique column, add a second column to the ORDER BY and WHERE clauses, and add indexes on those columns. SQL Server does not support row comparators, so alternative syntax is required when comparing multiple columns.

Summary

In SQL Server, Keyset paging has significant performance advantages over OFFSET paging. By using unique indexes and avoiding inefficient row reads, it ensures optimal performance when processing large tables and complex queries.

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