SQL Joins vs Single Table : Performance Difference?

Question

I am trying to stick to the practice of keeping the database normalized, but that leads to the need to run multiple join queries. Is there a performance degradation if many quer

Answer 1

With the proper indexes set up, your joins can perform very quickly. Use SQL Profiler to determine what indexes need to be created or altered to optimize performance of your common queries. Be sure to have a maintenance plan set up for your database to run once a week (or every day for tables that change a lot) that updates your statistics and indexes.

Normalization is normally preferred over keeping data in multiple locations. There are scenarios where insert/update does not need to occur quickly and select need to occur very quickly in which case you could be better off without normalization. Even so, premature optimization is not recommended so go with a normalized structure first.