Question

I had to review some code, and came across something that someone did, and can’t think of a reason why my way is better and it probably isn’t, so, which is better/safer/more efficient?

SELECT MAX(a_date) FROM a_table WHERE a_primary_key = 5 GROUP BY event_id

OR

SELECT TOP 1 a_date FROM a_table WHERE a_primary_key = 5 ORDER BY a_date

I would have gone with the 2nd option, but I’m not sure why, and if that’s right.

Answer 1

Performance is generally similar, if your table is indexed.

Worth considering though: Top usually only makes sense if you’re ordering your results (otherwise, top of what?)

Ordering a result requires more processing.

Min doesn’t always require ordering. (Just depends, but often you don’t need order by or group by, etc.)

In your two examples, I’d expect speed / x-plan to be very similar. You can always turn to your stats to make sure, but I doubt the difference would be significant.