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Table Variables Are More Efficient than Temporary Tables In Some Cases

Table Variables Are More Efficient than Temporary Tables In Some Cases

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SQL developers are mostly familiar with using temporary tables to temporarily accumulate or store query results. However, using a “table variable,” a less well-known concept, turns out to be a better performer in some cases.

Specifically, when you have only a few rows that you need to hold in a table, and you don’t need to index the data, use a table variable instead of a temporary table. The table variable performs better because SQL Server doesn’t create statistics on a table variable as it does for temporary tables.

Here’s the syntax to create a table variable:

DECLARE @RESULTS TABLE(   FACTOR_ID INT,   WEIGHTING DECIMAL(5,2),   HOLDER_CTG_ID INT)

Remember, if you need to create indexes on your temporary data, use a temporary table instead.

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