What is EXPLAIN?

See the query plan.

EXPLAIN shows how a query will run. It displays the execution plan.

EXPLAIN SELECT * FROM products WHERE price > 100;

This query shows the query plan.

All columns are selected from products. WHERE keeps only the rows where price > 100 holds.

What is EXPLAIN? — details

EXPLAIN gives the plan without running the query. It shows which index is used.

EXPLAIN ANALYZE actually runs the query and shows estimated and actual time side by side; it is the first step in finding a slow query.

Show the query plan with EXPLAIN SELECT * FROM products WHERE price > 100.

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EXPLAIN SELECT * FROM products WHERE price > 100;

Add EXPLAIN

____ SELECT * FROM products WHERE price > 100;

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EXPLAIN SELECT * FROM products WHERE price > 100;