Optimizing queries using materialized views in Azure Synapse Analytics

Views are an old concept in SQL Server and are often used to encapsulate complex queries into virtual tables. We can then replace the query with the virtual table wherever required. A standard view is just a name given to the complex query. Whenever we query the standard view, it accesses the underlying tables in the query to fetch the result set.

Materialized views, unlike standard views, maintain the data as a physical table instead of a virtual table. The view data is maintained just like a physical table and is refreshed automatically whenever the underlying tables are updated.

In this recipe, we'll learn how to optimize queries using materialized views.

Getting ready

Before you start, open SSMS and log in to Azure SQL Server.

You need a Synapse SQL pool to perform the steps in this recipe. If you don't have an existing Synapse SQL pool, you can create one using the steps from the...