Self-tuning Histograms: Building Histograms Without Looking at Data

Summary: Self-tuning histograms infer distributions from query-execution feedback, not data samples, and refine via range-selectivity observations. Data-size independent, cheaper than multi-dimensional histograms; effective for low–moderate skew, with initialization/refinement techniques and experimental validation. (summarized by gpt-5-nano on Feb 09 2026)

Paper ID: 3160
Venue: SIGMOD
Year: 1999
Pagerank: 0.00018292618
Overall Rank: 448 | 96.93%
DOI: 10.1145/304182.304198

Incoming Non-self Citations Over Time

Authors

1. Ashraf Aboulnaga (University of Wisconsin)
2. Surajit Chaudhuri (Microsoft)

BibTeX Citation

@inproceedings{aboulnaga_sigmod99,
        title = {{Self-tuning Histograms: Building Histograms Without Looking at Data}},
        author = {Aboulnaga, Ashraf and Chaudhuri, Surajit},
        series = {{SIGMOD} '99},
        booktitle = {Proceedings of the {ACM} {SIGMOD} International Conference on Management of Data},
        publisher = {Association for Computing Machinery},
        doi = {10.1145/304182.304198},
        url = {https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/304182.304198},
        year = {1999}
}

Incoming Citations (Sorted by Pagerank)

Showing 50 of 57 citing papers.

Rank	Citing Paper	Year	Venue	Pagerank
100	LEO - DB2's LEarning Optimizer	2001	VLDB	0.00034385207
159	CORDS: Automatic Discovery of Correlations and Soft Functional Dependencies	2004	SIGMOD	0.00028129426
257	The History of Histograms (abridged)	2003	VLDB	0.00023154793
311	Surfing Wavelets on Streams: One-Pass Summaries for Approximate Aggregate Queries	2001	VLDB	0.00021760621
363	Approximate Query Processing: Taming the TeraBytes! A Tutorial	2001	VLDB	0.0002005475
365	STHoles: A Multidimensional Workload-Aware Histogram	2001	SIGMOD	0.00020041735
563	Plan-Structured Deep Neural Network Models for Query Performance Prediction	2019	VLDB	0.0001650812
664	Exploiting Statistics on Query Expressions for Optimization	2002	SIGMOD	0.00015167825
682	Robust Estimation of Resource Consumption for SQL Queries using Statistical Techniques	2012	VLDB	0.00015014887
697	Selectivity Estimation for Range Predicates using Lightweight Models	2019	VLDB	0.00014888851
723	Dynamic Multidimensional Histograms	2002	SIGMOD	0.00014620977
850	Approximating Multi-Dimensional Aggregate Range Queries Over Real Attributes	2000	SIGMOD	0.00013619394
938	Flexible Database Generators	2005	VLDB	0.00013089351
977	Dynamic Maintenance of Wavelet-Based Histograms	2000	VLDB	0.00012864017
1,061	Are We Ready For Learned Cardinality Estimation?	2021	VLDB	0.00012369764
1,143	Toward a Progress Indicator for Database Queries	2004	SIGMOD	0.00011999403
1,170	QuickSel: Quick Selectivity Learning with Mixture Models	2020	SIGMOD	0.00011827259
1,266	Compressing SQL Workloads	2002	SIGMOD	0.00011412078
1,562	Estimating Progress of Execution for SQL Queries	2004	SIGMOD	0.00010354429
1,582	SciBORQ: Scientific data management with Bounds On Runtime and Quality	2011	CIDR	0.00010295367
1,832	DSB: A Decision Support Benchmark for Workload-Driven and Traditional Database Systems	2021	VLDB	9.6607418e-05
1,936	Consistently Estimating the Selectivity of Conjuncts of Predicates	2005	VLDB	9.4557372e-05
1,987	Plan Bouquets: Query Processing without Selectivity Estimation	2014	SIGMOD	9.3517129e-05
2,121	SASH: A Self-Adaptive Histogram Set for Dynamically Changing Workloads	2003	VLDB	9.1402718e-05
2,157	A Black-Box Approach to Query Cardinality Estimation	2007	CIDR	9.0625592e-05
2,411	Towards Elastic Transactional Cloud Storage with Range Query Support	2010	VLDB	8.6126258e-05
2,812	Query Performance Prediction for Concurrent Queries using Graph Embedding	2020	VLDB	8.0979597e-05
2,944	Query Optimizers: Time to Rethink the Contract?	2009	SIGMOD	7.9335187e-05
3,051	Towards a Hands-Free Query Optimizer through Deep Learning	2019	CIDR	7.8121919e-05
3,070	Accurate Summary-based Cardinality Estimation Through the Lens of Cardinality Estimation Graphs	2022	VLDB	7.7900444e-05
3,086	A Unified Deep Model of Learning from both Data and Queries for Cardinality Estimation	2021	SIGMOD	7.7708642e-05
3,137	Pushing Data-Induced Predicates Through Joins in Big-Data Clusters	2020	VLDB	7.7204167e-05
3,162	Efficiently Approximating Selectivity Functions using Low Overhead Regression Models	2020	VLDB	7.6785856e-05
3,309	Conditional Selectivity for Statistics on Query Expressions	2004	SIGMOD	7.5368417e-05
3,506	Identifying Robust Plans through Plan Diagram Reduction	2008	VLDB	7.3581509e-05
3,575	Optimal Histograms for Hierarchical Range Queries (Extended Abstract)	2000	PODS	7.2946291e-05
3,788	Graph-Based Synopses for Relational Selectivity Estimation	2006	SIGMOD	7.1244416e-05
4,198	Primitives for Workload Summarization and Implications for SQL	2003	VLDB	6.8397659e-05
4,405	DigitHist: a Histogram-Based Data Summary with Tight Error Bounds	2017	VLDB	6.7218674e-05
4,438	XPathLearner: An On-Line Self-Tuning Markov Histogram for XML Path Selectivity Estimation	2002	VLDB	6.7061802e-05
4,591	Automated Statistics Collection in DB2 UDB	2004	VLDB	6.614318e-05
4,945	Lightweight Cardinality Estimation in LSM-based Systems	2018	SIGMOD	6.4321265e-05
5,365	A Pay-As-You-Go Framework for Query Execution Feedback	2008	VLDB	6.2462467e-05
6,084	Efficient Detection of Empty-Result Queries	2006	VLDB	5.9830699e-05
6,323	Modeling Shifting Workloads for Learned Database Systems	2024	SIGMOD	5.9141228e-05
6,543	Speeding Up End-to-end Query Execution via Learning-based Progressive Cardinality Estimation	2023	SIGMOD	5.8461929e-05
6,593	Simple Adaptive Query Processing vs. Learned Query Optimizers: Observations and Analysis	2023	VLDB	5.8297039e-05
7,379	Comparing Synopsis Techniques for Approximate Spatial Data Analysis	2019	VLDB	5.629255e-05
7,554	Consistent Histograms In The Presence of Distinct Value Counts	2009	VLDB	5.6001388e-05
7,655	Plan Stitch: Harnessing the Best of Many Plans	2018	VLDB	5.5741093e-05

Outgoing Citations (Sorted by Pagerank)

Showing 9 of 9 cited papers.

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

Rank	Cited Paper	Year	Venue	Pagerank
35	Improved Histograms for Selectivity Estimation of Range Predicates	1996	SIGMOD	0.00048481081
76	Practical Selectivity Estimation through Adaptive Sampling	1990	SIGMOD	0.00037054261
101	Selectivity Estimation Without the Attribute Value Independence Assumption	1997	VLDB	0.00034376651
118	Equi-Depth Histograms For Estimating Selectivity Factors For Multi-Dimensional Queries	1988	SIGMOD	0.00031922279
151	Efficient Mid-Query Re-Optimization of Sub-Optimal Query Execution Plans	1998	SIGMOD	0.00029161879
168	Wavelet-Based Histograms for Selectivity Estimation	1998	SIGMOD	0.00027541029
222	Adaptive Selectivity Estimation Using Query Feedback	1994	SIGMOD	0.00024193708
235	Fast Incremental Maintenance of Approximate Histograms	1997	VLDB	0.00023783792
261	Approximate Medians and other Quantiles in One Pass and with Limited Memory	1998	SIGMOD	0.00023097188

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