What is the most efficient way to lookup an object (e.g. a user) by only a string?
31st May 2012
My answer to What is the most efficient way to lookup an object (e.g. a user) by only a string? on Quora
Yes—an index on a varchar column is exactly how you would implement this.
More recent articles
- Hello Python 3.15, goodbye 3.10, and now I can use 3.11 - 12th October 2026
- A new feature for my blog, built using my voice - 9th October 2026
- Claude Haiku 5.5 - 7th October 2026
- We're going to need default hard budget caps on pretty much everything - 3rd October 2026