How Can I Create and Populate a Numbers Table Most Efficiently?

Strategies for Building and Filling Numbers Tables Efficiently

This guide outlines best practices for creating and populating numbers tables in databases, focusing on speed and code efficiency.

1. Index Optimization

• Employ a clustered index on the numerical column for swift data access.
• For optimal performance, create the clustered index after table population.

2. High-Speed Row Insertion

• Leverage set-based operations (e.g., INSERT ... SELECT) for simultaneous insertion of multiple rows.
• Explore recursive CTEs or the ROW_NUMBER() function for efficient number sequence generation.

3. Concise and Efficient Code

• Choose the simplest INSERT method that satisfies performance goals.
• Avoid loops or cursor-based insertions due to their inherent inefficiency.

Performance Benchmarks

The following table summarizes the performance of various methods, based on comparative testing:

Method	Average Execution Time (ms)
Method 7 (IDENTITY Insert)	56.3
Method 6 (ROW_NUMBER() over CROSS JOIN)	82.3
Method 5 (WITH Recursive CTE)	92.7

Method 7, utilizing IDENTITY inserts, proved superior in both speed and code simplicity. Therefore, it's recommended as the most efficient approach for creating and populating numbers tables.

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