Approximate Query Processing: No Silver Bullet

Summary: State of the art of Approximate Query Processing; progress notable but limited in product impact. Proposes two concrete avenues to integrate AQP into data platforms (architecture, tooling) to realize practical value. (summarized by gpt-5-nano on Feb 09 2026)

Paper ID: hd2589e03c9eceed9
Venue: SIGMOD
Year: 2017
Pagerank: 0.00012208639
Overall Rank: 1,061 | 92.88%
DOI: 10.1145/3055918.3056097

Incoming Non-self Citations Over Time

Authors

1. Surajit Chaudhuri (Microsoft)
2. Bolin Ding (Microsoft)
3. Srikanth Kandula (Microsoft)

BibTeX Citation

@inproceedings{chaudhuri_sigmod17,
        title = {{Approximate Query Processing: No Silver Bullet}},
        author = {Chaudhuri, Surajit and Ding, Bolin and Kandula, Srikanth},
        series = {{SIGMOD} '17},
        booktitle = {Proceedings of the {ACM} {SIGMOD} International Conference on Management of Data},
        publisher = {Association for Computing Machinery},
        doi = {10.1145/3055918.3056097},
        url = {https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3055918.3056097},
        year = {2017}
}

Incoming Citations (Sorted by Pagerank)

Showing 44 of 44 citing papers.

Rank	Citing Paper	Year	Venue	Pagerank
1,408	Northstar: An Interactive Data Science System	2018	VLDB	0.00010738859
1,828	DBEst: Revisiting Approximate Query Processing Engines with Machine Learning Models	2019	SIGMOD	9.547768e-05
2,295	ThalamusDB: Approximate Query Processing on Multi-Modal Data	2024	SIGMOD	8.6822982e-05
3,424	AQP++: Connecting Approximate Query Processing With Aggregate Precomputation for Interactive Analytics	2018	SIGMOD	7.3084429e-05
3,607	Plato: Approximate Analytics over Compressed Time Series with Tight Deterministic Error Guarantees	2020	VLDB	7.1645803e-05
3,780	Optimizing Video Analytics with Declarative Model Relationships	2023	VLDB	7.0225859e-05
3,971	Optimizing Machine Learning Inference Queries with Correlative Proxy Models	2022	VLDB	6.8868815e-05
4,254	Sample Debiasing in the Themis Open World Database System	2020	SIGMOD	6.698367e-05
4,305	Data Series Progressive Similarity Search with Probabilistic Quality Guarantees	2020	SIGMOD	6.6740088e-05
4,329	Relational Data Synthesis using Generative Adversarial Networks: A Design Space Exploration	2020	VLDB	6.656734e-05
5,354	Adaptive and Robust Query Execution for Lakehouses at Scale	2024	VLDB	6.1661231e-05
5,379	At-the-time and Back-in-time Persistent Sketches	2021	SIGMOD	6.1540191e-05
5,573	Database Benchmarking for Supporting Real-Time Interactive Querying of Large Data	2020	SIGMOD	6.0774723e-05
6,202	Combining Aggregation and Sampling (Nearly) Optimally for Approximate Query Processing	2021	SIGMOD	5.8494367e-05
6,285	Mosaic: A Sample-Based Database System for Open World Query Processing	2020	CIDR	5.8209714e-05
6,857	SpareLLM: Automatically Selecting Task-Specific Minimum-Cost Large Language Models under Equivalence Constraint	2025	SIGMOD	5.6621524e-05
7,218	SKT: A One-Pass Multi-Sketch Data Analytics Accelerator	2021	VLDB	5.5810969e-05
7,363	PairwiseHist: Fast, Accurate and Space-Efficient Approximate Query Processing with Data Compression	2024	VLDB	5.5404386e-05
7,368	Weighted Distinct Sampling: Cardinality Estimation for SPJ Queries	2021	SIGMOD	5.5392867e-05
7,426	Learning to be a Statistician: Learned Estimator for Number of Distinct Values	2022	VLDB	5.5295692e-05
7,707	Enabling Efficient and General Subpopulation Analytics in Multidimensional Data Streams	2022	VLDB	5.4723863e-05
7,710	ReStore - Neural Data Completion for Relational Databases	2021	SIGMOD	5.471539e-05
7,749	PilotDB: Database-Agnostic Online Approximate Query Processing with A Priori Error Guarantees	2025	SIGMOD	5.4585522e-05
8,289	Experiences with Approximating Queries in Microsoft’s Production Big-Data Clusters	2019	VLDB	5.360349e-05
8,336	LAQy: Efficient and Reusable Query Approximations via Lazy Sampling	2023	SIGMOD	5.3508072e-05
8,955	HAP: An Efficient Hamming Space Index Based on Augmented Pigeonhole Principle	2022	SIGMOD	5.2508006e-05
9,134	Hit the Gym: Accelerating Query Execution to Efficiently Bootstrap Behavior Models for Self-Driving Database Management Systems	2024	VLDB	5.2223611e-05
9,548	Controlled Intentional Degradation in Analytical Video Systems	2022	SIGMOD	5.159717e-05
9,583	A Step Toward Deep Online Aggregation	2023	SIGMOD	5.154741e-05
9,972	Secure Sampling for Approximate Multi-party Query Processing	2023	SIGMOD	5.1014161e-05
10,021	The Data Interaction Game	2018	SIGMOD	5.0935279e-05
10,049	Demonstration of Accelerating Machine Learning Inference Queries with Correlative Proxy Models	2022	VLDB	5.0896901e-05
10,127	RALF: Accuracy-Aware Scheduling for Feature Store Maintenance	2024	VLDB	5.0736184e-05
10,198	Task Cascades for Efficient Unstructured Data Processing	2026	SIGMOD	5.0599411e-05
10,351	Evergreen: Efficient Claim Verification for Semantic Aggregates	2027	VLDB	4.9769913e-05
10,555	Approximate Query Processing under Updates	2026	SIGMOD	4.9769913e-05
10,608	Stochastic Submodular Data Forgetting	2026	SIGMOD	4.9769913e-05
10,844	ConANN: Conformal Approximate Nearest Neighbor Search	2026	VLDB	4.9769913e-05
10,909	ANNiE: A Learned Query Cost Estimator for Graph-Based Approximate Nearest Neighbor Search	2026	VLDB	4.9769913e-05
11,298	Cardinality Estimation for Having-Clauses	2025	VLDB	4.9769913e-05
11,611	Confidence Intervals for Private Query Processing	2024	VLDB	4.9769913e-05
12,045	FlashP: An Analytical Pipeline for Real-time Forecasting of Time-Series Relational Data	2021	VLDB	4.9769913e-05
12,058	BitGourmet: Deterministic Approximation via Optimized Bit Selection	2020	CIDR	4.9769913e-05
12,089	Demonstration of BitGourmet: Data Analysis via Deterministic Approximation	2020	SIGMOD	4.9769913e-05

Outgoing Citations (Sorted by Pagerank)

Showing 50 of 51 cited papers.

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

Rank	Cited Paper	Year	Venue	Pagerank
6	Pig Latin: A Not-So-Foreign Language for Data Processing	2008	SIGMOD	0.0010515896
9	Online Aggregation	1997	SIGMOD	0.00076265429
11	Implementing Data Cubes Efficiently	1996	SIGMOD	0.00071056708
23	Spark SQL: Relational Data Processing in Spark	2015	SIGMOD	0.00055384955
30	SCOPE: Easy and Efficient Parallel Processing of Massive Data Sets	2008	VLDB	0.00050475202
31	Hive - A Warehousing Solution Over a Map-Reduce Framework	2009	VLDB	0.00049821554
36	Accurate Estimation Of The Number Of Tuples Satisfying A Condition	1984	SIGMOD	0.00047864281
49	Dremel: Interactive Analysis of Web-Scale Datasets	2010	VLDB	0.0004314366
57	On Random Sampling over Joins	1999	SIGMOD	0.00040095727
88	Automated Selection of Materialized Views and Indexes for SQL Databases	2000	VLDB	0.00035340164
135	Ripple Joins for Online Aggregation	1999	SIGMOD	0.00029858107
222	Approximate Computation of Multidimensional Aggregates of Sparse Data Using Wavelets	1999	SIGMOD	0.00024210103
295	Towards Estimation Error Guarantees for Distinct Values	2000	PODS	0.00021908194
309	Approximate Query Processing Using Wavelets	2000	VLDB	0.00021376597
335	The Aqua Approximate Query Answering System	1999	SIGMOD	0.000206533
372	Approximate Query Processing: Taming the TeraBytes! A Tutorial	2001	VLDB	0.0001971778
518	Random Sampling for Histogram Construction: How much is enough?	1998	SIGMOD	0.00016938992
564	Congressional Samples for Approximate Answering of Group-By Queries	2000	SIGMOD	0.00016297598
596	Wander Join: Online Aggregation via Random Walks	2016	SIGMOD	0.00015782051
685	Trill: A High-Performance Incremental Query Processor for Diverse Analytics	2015	VLDB	0.00014778299
749	Join Size Estimation Subject to Filter Conditions	2015	VLDB	0.00014261044
841	Quickr: Lazily Approximating Complex AdHoc Queries in BigData Clusters	2016	SIGMOD	0.00013543
930	Dynamic Sample Selection for Approximate Query Processing	2003	SIGMOD	0.00013009255
1,021	Online Aggregation for Large MapReduce Jobs	2011	VLDB	0.00012437619
1,090	Scalable Approximate Query Processing With The DBO Engine	2007	SIGMOD	0.00012074369
1,182	ICICLES: Self-tuning Samples for Approximate Query Answering	2000	VLDB	0.00011615497
1,246	Blink and It's Done: Interactive Queries on Very Large Data	2012	VLDB	0.000113499
1,428	Knowing When You’re Wrong: Building Fast and Reliable Approximate Query Processing Systems	2014	SIGMOD	0.0001069161
1,608	SciBORQ: Scientific data management with Bounds On Runtime and Quality	2011	CIDR	0.00010085907
1,662	Rapid Sampling for Visualizations with Ordering Guarantees	2015	VLDB	9.9502569e-05
1,869	G-OLA: Generalized On-Line Aggregation for Interactive Analysis on Big Data	2015	SIGMOD	9.4749419e-05
1,916	The Analytical Bootstrap: a New Method for Fast Error Estimation in Approximate Query Processing	2014	SIGMOD	9.3822742e-05
2,003	Sample + Seek: Approximating Aggregates with Distribution Precision Guarantee	2016	SIGMOD	9.2071735e-05
2,219	DAQ: A New Paradigm for Approximate Query Processing	2015	VLDB	8.8127129e-05
2,324	Online Maintenance of Very Large Random Samples	2004	SIGMOD	8.6332031e-05
2,432	Cardinality Estimation Using Sample Views with Quality Assurance	2007	SIGMOD	8.4742372e-05
2,455	A Sampling Algebra for Aggregate Estimation	2013	VLDB	8.4377251e-05
2,654	A Robust, Optimization-Based Approach for Approximate Answering of Aggregate Queries	2001	SIGMOD	8.1670397e-05
3,303	Optimal and Approximate Computation of Summary Statistics for Range Aggregates	2001	PODS	7.4400795e-05
3,553	Interactive Analysis of Web-Scale Data	2009	CIDR	7.20663e-05
4,452	Bounded Conjunctive Queries	2014	VLDB	6.5918046e-05
4,550	Querying Big Graphs within Bounded Resources	2014	SIGMOD	6.5380867e-05
5,310	CliffGuard: A Principled Framework for Finding Robust Database Designs	2015	SIGMOD	6.184026e-05
5,535	Fast and Near–Optimal Algorithms for Approximating Distributions by Histograms	2015	PODS	6.0905677e-05
5,744	Scalable Progressive Analytics on Big Data in the Cloud	2013	VLDB	6.0072829e-05
5,820	SnappyData: A Hybrid Transactional Analytical Store Built On Spark	2016	SIGMOD	5.9808684e-05
6,948	Querying Big Data by Accessing Small Data	2015	PODS	5.6350267e-05
7,612	On Scale Independence for Querying Big Data	2014	PODS	5.4829143e-05
8,851	Data Driven Approximation with Bounded Resources	2017	VLDB	5.2634608e-05
8,876	Stale View Cleaning: Getting Fresh Answers from Stale Materialized Views	2015	VLDB	5.2587627e-05

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#	Overall Rank	Paper	Year	Venue
1	4,779	Learned Approximate Query Processing: Make it Light, Accurate and Fast	2021	CIDR
2	930	Dynamic Sample Selection for Approximate Query Processing	2003	SIGMOD
3	309	Approximate Query Processing Using Wavelets	2000	VLDB
4	6,200	Adaptive Query Processing: Why, How, When, What Next	2006	SIGMOD
5	3,424	AQP++: Connecting Approximate Query Processing With Aggregate Precomputation for Interactive Analytics	2018	SIGMOD
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8	6,202	Combining Aggregation and Sampling (Nearly) Optimally for Approximate Query Processing	2021	SIGMOD
9	10,555	Approximate Query Processing under Updates	2026	SIGMOD
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