SlabCity: Whole-Query Optimization using Program Synthesis

Summary: SlabCity is the first rule-free, synthesis-based query rewriter, searching SQL space via query dataflows for whole-query optimization. Across four workloads and 1,000+ real queries, it rewrites more queries and produces faster plans than rule-based systems. (summarized by gpt-5.6-luna on Jul 24 2026)

Paper ID: 13340
Venue: VLDB
Year: 2023
Pagerank: 5.4750309e-05
Overall Rank: 8,164 | 43.99%
DOI: 10.14778/3611479.3611515

Incoming Non-self Citations Over Time

Authors

1. Rui Dong (University of Michigan)
2. Jie Liu (University of Michigan)
3. Yuxuan Zhu (University of Michigan)
4. Cong Yan (Microsoft)
5. Barzan Mozafari (University of Michigan)
6. Xinyu Wang (University of Michigan)

BibTeX Citation

@article{dong_vldb23,
        title = {{SlabCity: Whole-Query Optimization using Program Synthesis}},
        author = {Dong, Rui and Liu, Jie and Zhu, Yuxuan and Yan, Cong and Mozafari, Barzan and Wang, Xinyu},
        journal = {PVLDB},
        series = {{VLDB} '23},
        volume = {16},
        number = {11},
        pages = {3151--3164},
        doi = {10.14778/3611479.3611515},
        url = {https://doi.org/10.14778/3611479.3611515},
        year = {2023}
}

Incoming Citations (Sorted by Pagerank)

Showing 4 of 4 citing papers.

Rank	Citing Paper	Year	Venue	Pagerank
4,363	GenRewrite: Query Rewriting via Large Language Models	2026	SIGMOD	6.7423909e-05
6,259	R-Bot: An LLM-based Query Rewrite System	2025	VLDB	5.93967e-05
8,163	Learned Offline Query Planning via Bayesian Optimization	2025	SIGMOD	5.4751517e-05
11,007	GRewriter: Practical Query Rewriting with Automatic Rule Set Expansion in GaussDB	2025	VLDB	5.093636e-05

Outgoing Citations (Sorted by Pagerank)

Showing 25 of 25 cited papers.

Citations counted here include only citations to other VLDB/SIGMOD/CIDR/PODS papers in this database.

Rank	Cited Paper	Year	Venue	Pagerank
17	Provenance Semirings	2007	PODS	0.00059843817
110	Extensible/Rule Based Query Rewrite Optimization in Starburst	1992	SIGMOD	0.0003309592
119	The EXODUS Optimizer Generator	1987	SIGMOD	0.0003183602
154	Neo: A Learned Query Optimizer	2019	VLDB	0.00028726181
192	Grammar-like Functional Rules for Representing Query Optimization Alternatives	1988	SIGMOD	0.00026028406
290	An Overview of Query Optimization in Relational Systems	1998	PODS	0.0002227038
385	Why Not?	2009	SIGMOD	0.00019455743
445	Apache Calcite: A Foundational Framework for Optimized Query Processing Over Heterogeneous Data Sources	2018	SIGMOD	0.00018336751
620	On Propagation of Deletions and Annotations Through Views	2002	PODS	0.00015703409
910	Cosette: An Automated Prover for SQL	2017	CIDR	0.00013285905
1,012	Improved Unnesting Algorithms for Join Aggregate SQL Queries	1992	VLDB	0.00012682631
1,124	Query Optimization by Predicate Move-Around	1994	VLDB	0.00012087356
1,241	Balsa: Learning a Query Optimizer Without Expert Demonstrations	2022	SIGMOD	0.00011521639
1,410	Magic is Relevant	1990	SIGMOD	0.00010853223
1,829	Axiomatic Foundations and Algorithms for Deciding Semantic Equivalences of SQL Queries	2018	VLDB	9.6671311e-05
1,982	WeTune: Automatic Discovery and Verification of Query Rewrite Rules	2022	SIGMOD	9.3573897e-05
2,452	A Learned Query Rewrite System using Monte Carlo Tree Search	2022	VLDB	8.5584e-05
2,597	The MemSQL Query Optimizer: A modern optimizer for real-time analytics in a distributed database	2016	VLDB	8.3604418e-05
3,327	Automated Verification of Query Equivalence Using Satisfiability Modulo Theories	2019	VLDB	7.518491e-05
4,082	SQLCheck: Automated Detection and Diagnosis of SQL Anti-Patterns	2020	SIGMOD	6.9164719e-05
4,759	Explaining Wrong Queries Using Small Examples	2019	SIGMOD	6.5207388e-05
6,031	Sia: Optimizing Queries using Learned Predicates	2021	SIGMOD	6.0007422e-05
6,194	Incorporating Super-Operators in Big-Data Query Optimizers	2020	VLDB	5.9470844e-05
7,035	Optimizing Recursive Queries with Program Synthesis	2022	SIGMOD	5.7216112e-05
9,966	Generating Application-Specific Data Layouts for In-memory Databases	2019	VLDB	5.1870939e-05

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#	Overall Rank	Paper	Year	Venue
1	2,452	A Learned Query Rewrite System using Monte Carlo Tree Search	2022	VLDB
2	6,031	Sia: Optimizing Queries using Learned Predicates	2021	SIGMOD
3	7,137	Rule-Based Translation of Relational Queries into Iterative Programs	1986	SIGMOD
4	11,489	Demo of QueryBooster: Supporting Middleware-Based SQL Query Rewriting as a Service	2023	VLDB
5	4,909	QueryBooster: Improving SQL Performance Using Middleware Services for Human-Centered Query Rewriting	2023	VLDB
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7	5,132	Facilitating SQL Query Composition and Analysis	2020	SIGMOD
8	4,363	GenRewrite: Query Rewriting via Large Language Models	2026	SIGMOD
9	10,139	Leveraging Query Optimizers to Verify the Soundness of LLM-based Query Rewrites for Real-World Workloads, and More!	2026	CIDR
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