Difference between PRIMARY KEY index and UNIQUE-NOT NULL index - Mailing list pgsql-general

From Vincenzo Romano
Subject Difference between PRIMARY KEY index and UNIQUE-NOT NULL index
Date
Msg-id 200707210045.34915.Vincenzo.Romano@notorand.it
Whole thread Raw
List pgsql-general
Hi all.
Maybe mine is a stupid question, but I'd like to know the answer if
possible.

In an inner join involving a 16M+ rows table and a 100+ rows table
performances got drastically improved by 100+ times by replacing a
UNIQUE-NOT NULL index with a PRIMARY KEY on the very same columns in
the very same order. The query has not been modified.

In the older case, thanks to the EXPLAIN command, I saw that the join
was causing a sort on the index elements, while the primary key was
not.

So ther's some difference for sure, but I'm missing it.
Any hint?

--
Vincenzo Romano -= NotOrAnd.IT Information Technologies =-
tel +39 0823 454163 | cel +39 339 8083886 | fax +39 02 700506964
<Smooth seas never make experienced sailormen>

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