Method for recommending indexes and materialized views for a database workload

The invention herein provides method and apparatus, including software for determining a set of materialized views or indices of the contents or a subset of the contents of a database in a data processing system to be created for one or more users of the database. The method and apparatus provide method and means for evaluating a workload presented by a user to the database; evaluating the data processing system characteristics; evaluating the database characteristics; and, using the above evaluations for recommending a set of suitable materialized views or indices to the user. Another aspect of the invention, which may be used for a workload presented by a user of a database in a data processing system, provides method and apparatus, including software for determining a set of materialized views or indices of the contents or a subset of the contents of the database, by: generating a plurality of materialized view candidates from evaluation of the workload, data processing system characteristics and database characteristics; estimating statistics for the materialized view candidates such as the number of rows, row size, and column statistics; generating a plurality of potential index candidates by evaluating the workload, data processing system characteristics, database characteristics and the materialized view candidates; and, from the materialized view candidates and index candidates selecting a set of suitable materialized views and/or indices for submission to the user.