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Tree-Based Indexing

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Encyclopedia of Database Systems

Synonyms

B+-tree; Index Sequential Access Method (ISAM); R-tree

Definition

Consider a relation R with some numeric attribute A taking values over an (ordered) domain D. A range query retrieves all tuples in R whose attribute A has values in the interval [low, high]. That is, low ≤ R.A ≤ high. To enable fast processing of range selection queries, an access method that maintains order is needed. Such an index has the form of a tree, where each node corresponds to a page. Leaf nodes contain (or index) the actual values of A, while index nodes provide ordered access to the nodes underneath. Examples of tree-based indexing are the B+-tree and the R-tree (for single- and multidimensional ranges, respectively).

Key Points

A major performance goal of a database management system is to minimize the number of I/Os (i.e., blocks or pages transferred) between the disk and main memory. One way to achieve this goal is to minimize the number of I/Os when answering a query. Consider, for example,...

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Recommended Reading

  1. Elmasri RA, Navathe SB. Fundamentals of database systems. 5th ed. Reading: Addisson-Wesley; 2007.

    MATH  Google Scholar 

  2. Manolopoulos TY, Tsotras Y, Vassilis J. Advanced database indexing. Dordecht: Kluwer; 1999.

    MATH  Google Scholar 

  3. Ramakrishnan R, Gehrke J. Database management systems. 3rd ed. New York: McGraw-Hill; 2003.

    MATH  Google Scholar 

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Thessaloniki, Greece

    Yannis Manolopoulos

  2. University of Piraeus, Piraeus, Greece

    Yannis Theodoridis

  3. University of California-Riverside, Riverside, CA, USA

    Vassilis J. Tsotras

Authors
  1. Yannis Manolopoulos
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  2. Yannis Theodoridis
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  3. Vassilis J. Tsotras
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Yannis Manolopoulos .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Georgia Institute of Technology College of Computing, Atlanta, GA, USA

    Ling Liu

  2. University of Waterloo School of Computer Science, Waterloo, ON, Canada

    M. Tamer Özsu

Section Editor information

  1. University of California-Riverside, Riverside, MA, USA

    Vassilis J. Tsotras

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Manolopoulos, Y., Theodoridis, Y., Tsotras, V.J. (2018). Tree-Based Indexing. In: Liu, L., Özsu, M.T. (eds) Encyclopedia of Database Systems. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-8265-9_755

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