what is clustered index in sql

 what is clustered index in sql

Clustered indexes sort and store the data rows in the table or view based on their key values. These are the columns included in the index definition. There can be only one clustered index per table, because the data rows themselves can be stored in only one order.

Database indexes are used to improve the speed of database operations in a table with a large number of records. Database indexes (both clustered indexes and non-clustered indexes) are quite similar to book indexes in their functionality. A book index allows you to go straight to the different topics discussed in the book. If you want to search for a specific topic, you just go to index, find the page number that contains the topic that you are looking for and then can go straight to that page. Without an index, you would have to search the whole book.

What is clustered index with example?

A clustered index is an index that sorts the rows in a database table based on a specific column value and defines the manner in which the data in the table is stored on the disk. When we create a table with a primary key constraint, a clustered index is automatically created by default based on this primary key.