What is a Query Plan Cache?
The query plan cache, as its name suggests, is a dedicated memory structure that stores execution plans for Transact-SQL statements. When a T-SQL statement is executed for the first time, SQL Server analyzes the statement’s syntax and semantics, generating an execution plan that outlines the most efficient approach to access the requested data. This execution plan is then cached (temporarily stored) so that when the same query is run again SQL server doesn’t need to create another query plan rather it uses the cached query plan which improves database performance. Query plans that are used most frequently are cached for a longer duration of time.
SQL Server Query Plan Cache
In the SQL server, the query plan cache plays an important role in ensuring efficient and optimized query execution. In this article, we are going to dive deep into the basics of query plan cache and its workflow. We will also learn how to view the query plan cache in our SQL Server databases.