Question

Define an index in terms of a database design:

An index is a ____ that is used to ____
a) Data structure, Speed up data retrieval
b) Table, Store primary keys
c) Query, Enhance database security
d) View, Optimize database backups

Answer 1

An index in database design is a data structure used to expedite data retrieval similar to a book index that helps locate information quickly.

Step-by-step explanation:

Define an index in terms of a database design: An index is a data structure that is used to speed up data retrieval. An index in a database system is similar to an index in the back of a book. Just like a book index helps you quickly find information without reading each page a database index allows the database management system to find and retrieve specific rows much faster than it could without the index.

However while indexes can greatly improve query speed, they also require additional storage space and can slow down data modification operations like inserts updates and deletes because the index must be updated every time these operations occur.