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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
hdcfd44ae6c3d1545
Venue
SIGMOD
Year
1999
Pagerank
0.00017955913
Overall Rank
454 | 96.96%
DOI
10.1145/304182.304198

Incoming Non-self Citations Over Time

Authors

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
98 LEO - DB2's LEarning Optimizer 2001 VLDB 0.00034099838
160 CORDS: Automatic Discovery of Correlations and Soft Functional Dependencies 2004 SIGMOD 0.00027827605
255 The History of Histograms (abridged) 2003 VLDB 0.00022974524
312 Surfing Wavelets on Streams: One-Pass Summaries for Approximate Aggregate Queries 2001 VLDB 0.0002130211
371 STHoles: A Multidimensional Workload-Aware Histogram 2001 SIGMOD 0.00019822444
372 Approximate Query Processing: Taming the TeraBytes! A Tutorial 2001 VLDB 0.0001971778
560 Plan-Structured Deep Neural Network Models for Query Performance Prediction 2019 VLDB 0.00016408613
644 Exploiting Statistics on Query Expressions for Optimization 2002 SIGMOD 0.00015209065
682 Robust Estimation of Resource Consumption for SQL Queries using Statistical Techniques 2012 VLDB 0.00014814858
691 Selectivity Estimation for Range Predicates using Lightweight Models 2019 VLDB 0.00014737455
743 Dynamic Multidimensional Histograms 2002 SIGMOD 0.00014309723
867 Approximating Multi-Dimensional Aggregate Range Queries Over Real Attributes 2000 SIGMOD 0.00013376165
956 Flexible Database Generators 2005 VLDB 0.0001286031
1,004 Dynamic Maintenance of Wavelet-Based Histograms 2000 VLDB 0.00012588952
1,065 Are We Ready For Learned Cardinality Estimation? 2021 VLDB 0.00012202293
1,155 QuickSel: Quick Selectivity Learning with Mixture Models 2020 SIGMOD 0.00011777046
1,158 Toward a Progress Indicator for Database Queries 2004 SIGMOD 0.00011767292
1,244 Compressing SQL Workloads 2002 SIGMOD 0.00011369155
1,515 DSB: A Decision Support Benchmark for Workload-Driven and Traditional Database Systems 2021 VLDB 0.00010418766
1,588 Estimating Progress of Execution for SQL Queries 2004 SIGMOD 0.00010137374
1,608 SciBORQ: Scientific data management with Bounds On Runtime and Quality 2011 CIDR 0.00010085907
1,931 Consistently Estimating the Selectivity of Conjuncts of Predicates 2005 VLDB 9.3511556e-05
1,989 Plan Bouquets: Query Processing without Selectivity Estimation 2014 SIGMOD 9.2469024e-05
2,142 SASH: A Self-Adaptive Histogram Set for Dynamically Changing Workloads 2003 VLDB 8.9644817e-05
2,174 A Black-Box Approach to Query Cardinality Estimation 2007 CIDR 8.9193253e-05
2,412 Towards Elastic Transactional Cloud Storage with Range Query Support 2010 VLDB 8.5070443e-05
2,837 Query Performance Prediction for Concurrent Queries using Graph Embedding 2020 VLDB 7.9495917e-05
2,890 Query Optimizers: Time to Rethink the Contract? 2009 SIGMOD 7.9010819e-05
2,975 Accurate Summary-based Cardinality Estimation Through the Lens of Cardinality Estimation Graphs 2022 VLDB 7.7905662e-05
3,053 A Unified Deep Model of Learning from both Data and Queries for Cardinality Estimation 2021 SIGMOD 7.7041081e-05
3,057 Towards a Hands-Free Query Optimizer through Deep Learning 2019 CIDR 7.6960881e-05
3,075 Pushing Data-Induced Predicates Through Joins in Big-Data Clusters 2020 VLDB 7.6742518e-05
3,208 Efficiently Approximating Selectivity Functions using Low Overhead Regression Models 2020 VLDB 7.5355264e-05
3,361 Conditional Selectivity for Statistics on Query Expressions 2004 SIGMOD 7.3726415e-05
3,527 Identifying Robust Plans through Plan Diagram Reduction 2008 VLDB 7.2283486e-05
3,646 Optimal Histograms for Hierarchical Range Queries (Extended Abstract) 2000 PODS 7.1368554e-05
3,852 Graph-Based Synopses for Relational Selectivity Estimation 2006 SIGMOD 6.9756022e-05
4,253 Primitives for Workload Summarization and Implications for SQL 2003 VLDB 6.6985405e-05
4,463 DigitHist: a Histogram-Based Data Summary with Tight Error Bounds 2017 VLDB 6.5861255e-05
4,528 XPathLearner: An On-Line Self-Tuning Markov Histogram for XML Path Selectivity Estimation 2002 VLDB 6.5571518e-05
4,660 Automated Statistics Collection in DB2 UDB 2004 VLDB 6.4794337e-05
5,047 Lightweight Cardinality Estimation in LSM-based Systems 2018 SIGMOD 6.2972183e-05
5,475 A Pay-As-You-Go Framework for Query Execution Feedback 2008 VLDB 6.115573e-05
5,850 Modeling Shifting Workloads for Learned Database Systems 2024 SIGMOD 5.9697921e-05
6,212 Efficient Detection of Empty-Result Queries 2006 VLDB 5.8469404e-05
6,664 Speeding Up End-to-end Query Execution via Learning-based Progressive Cardinality Estimation 2023 SIGMOD 5.715134e-05
6,714 Simple Adaptive Query Processing vs. Learned Query Optimizers: Observations and Analysis 2023 VLDB 5.6993812e-05
7,074 Plan Stitch: Harnessing the Best of Many Plans 2018 VLDB 5.604902e-05
7,524 Comparing Synopsis Techniques for Approximate Spatial Data Analysis 2019 VLDB 5.500354e-05
7,639 Consistent Histograms In The Presence of Distinct Value Counts 2009 VLDB 5.4767414e-05
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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
37 Improved Histograms for Selectivity Estimation of Range Predicates 1996 SIGMOD 0.0004772731
79 Practical Selectivity Estimation through Adaptive Sampling 1990 SIGMOD 0.00036476265
103 Selectivity Estimation Without the Attribute Value Independence Assumption 1997 VLDB 0.00033884854
119 Equi-Depth Histograms For Estimating Selectivity Factors For Multi-Dimensional Queries 1988 SIGMOD 0.0003136296
149 Efficient Mid-Query Re-Optimization of Sub-Optimal Query Execution Plans 1998 SIGMOD 0.00028977821
169 Wavelet-Based Histograms for Selectivity Estimation 1998 SIGMOD 0.00027126333
232 Adaptive Selectivity Estimation Using Query Feedback 1994 SIGMOD 0.0002378554
242 Fast Incremental Maintenance of Approximate Histograms 1997 VLDB 0.00023354266
253 Approximate Medians and other Quantiles in One Pass and with Limited Memory 1998 SIGMOD 0.00023047482
Previous Page 1 / 1 Next

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