Master Project
Textual and Visual Algebra Exploration
As part of the Distributed Systems specialization of my Master’s degree, a research project must be completed. The project took me four months to complete in parallel with other lectures.
Query Plans
At the core of a database system are query plans. Given a (declarative) query, a corresponding query plan specifies the operations required for executing it as a tree of (relational) algebra operators. Query plans are also used for optimizing the query execution, making them a vital part of overall query performance.
If a query takes too long to complete, it is always a good idea to inspect the query plan to search for potential bottlenecks.
Existing database systems often provide an EXPLAIN statement to get the textual (and sometimes visual)
representation of a plan.
Project Idea
The PolyDBMS Polypheny uses a hierarchic system of logical, allocation and physical query plans that enable execution across multiple storage engines. In my project, I introduced the textual PolyAlgebra representation for these plans. What makes them special is that any plan can be reconstructed from PolyAlgebra. This makes it the perfect tool to explore and modify query plans and observe what happens when executing them.
Plan Editor
A user-facing plan editor allows for the textual and visual editing of PolyAlgebra. For this, query plans are displayed as interactive operator trees. Various features improve usability for both new and experienced users.
