When executing a statement of the form
SELECT AGGR_FN(DISTINCT c1, c2,..,cn) FROM t1,
where AGGR_FN is an aggregate function such as COUNT(), AVG() or SUM(),
and a unique index exists on table t1 covering some or all of the
columns (c1, c2,..,cn), the retrieved values are inherently unique.
Consequently, the need for de-duplication imposed by the DISTINCT
clause can be eliminated, leading to optimization of aggregation
operations.
This optimization applies under the following conditions:
- only one table involved in the join (not counting const tables)
- some arguments of the aggregate function are fields
(not functions/subqueries)
This optimization extends to queries of the form
SELECT AGGR_FN(c1, c2,..,cn) GROUP BY cx,..cy
when a unique index covers some or all of the columns
(c1, c2,..cn, cx,..cy)
