Re: SQL Question - Select * versus selecting all fields individually

Hi Glenn,

> Someone here with lots of SQL experience but none with System i says:
> "My 2 cents on your code is not to use Select *. Always list the
> columns solely for performance reasons."

I never put * in a program (though I use it often for ad-hoc interactive SQL statements) in a program, I always select only the fields I need. Two reasons:

a) The fewer fields it has to extract, the faster it runs.

b) Maintenance is easier. If I change fields in the file (make them bigger, smaller, etc.) then I only have to change the programs that
refer to those particular fields. The fewer programs that refer to
each given field, the easier they are to change!