Count(*) vs Count(1) - SQL Server

Question

Just wondering if any of you people use Count(1) over Count(*) and if there is a noticeable difference in performance or if this is just a legacy h

Answer 1

COUNT(1) is not substantially different from COUNT(*), if at all. As to the question of COUNTing NULLable COLUMNs, this can be straightforward to demo the differences between COUNT(*) and COUNT()--

USE tempdb;
GO

IF OBJECT_ID( N'dbo.Blitzen', N'U') IS NOT NULL DROP TABLE dbo.Blitzen;
GO

CREATE TABLE dbo.Blitzen (ID INT NULL, Somelala CHAR(1) NULL);

INSERT dbo.Blitzen SELECT 1, 'A';
INSERT dbo.Blitzen SELECT NULL, NULL;
INSERT dbo.Blitzen SELECT NULL, 'A';
INSERT dbo.Blitzen SELECT 1, NULL;

SELECT COUNT(*), COUNT(1), COUNT(ID), COUNT(Somelala) FROM dbo.Blitzen;
GO

DROP TABLE dbo.Blitzen;
GO