One of the most important challenges faced by Oracle database administrators and Oracle developers is the need to tune SQL statements so that they execute efficiently. Poorly tuned SQL statements are one of the leading causes of substandard database performance and poor response time. SQL statements that perform poorly result in frustration for users, and can even prevent a company from serving its customers in a timely manner. In this book, Mark Gurry shares his in-depth knowledge of Oracle's SQL statement optimizers. Mark's knowledge is the result of many hard-fought tuning battles during his many years of providing Oracle tuning services to clients. Mark provides insights into the workings of the rule-based optimizer that go well beyond what the rules tell you. Mark also provides solutions to many common problems that occur with both the rule-based and cost-based optimizers. In addition to the specific problem/solution scenarios for the optimizers, Mark provides a number of handy SQL tuning tips. He discusses the various optimizer hints, telling you when they can be used to good effect. Finally, Mark discusses the use of the DBMS_STATS package to manage database statistics, and the use of outlines to specify execution plans for SQL statements in third-party applications that you can't otherwise modify.