How a Single SQL Query Cut Load by 60 Percent

In this episode of The Software Engineering Podcast, Lucas and Luna explore a real-world performance puzzle: a routine analytics query that was silently consuming 60 percent of a Postgres database's CPU. They walk through how one engineer traced the problem not to indexing or hardware, but to a subtle interaction between a join condition and a function wrapper that defeated the optimizer. The conversation covers query plan reading, function inlining, and the surprising cost of implicit type coercion. They discuss why even experienced teams miss these issues, how to spot them using EXPLAIN ANALYZE, and the broader lesson about writing queries that are not just correct but plan-friendly. A practical episode for anyone who works with SQL, ORMs, or databases at scale. #SQLOptimization #PostgresPerformance #DatabaseTuning #QueryPlan #FunctionInlining #TypeCoercion #EXPLAINANALYZE #SoftwareEngineering #TechPodcast #FexingoBusiness #BusinessPodcast #PerformanceDebugging #DatabaseEngineering #QueryTuning #EngineeringBestPractices #DataIntensiveApps #BackendEngineering #DatabaseInternals Keep every episode free: buymeacoffee.com/fexingo