Presto query optimizer: pursuit of performance

Presto, an open source distributed SQL engine, is widely recognized for its low-latency queries, high concurrency, and native ability to query multiple data sources. Proven at scale in a variety of use cases at Facebook, Airbnb, Netflix, Uber, Twitter, Bloomberg, and FINRA, Presto experienced an unprecedented growth in popularity in both on-premises and cloud deployments in the last few years.

Inspired by the increasingly complex SQL queries run by the Presto user community, engineers at Facebook and Starburst have recently focused on cost-based query optimization. In this talk we will present the initial design and implementation of the CBO, support for connector-provided statistics, estimating selectivity, and choosing efficient query plans. Then, our detailed experimental evaluation will illustrate the performance gains for several classes of queries achieved thanks to the optimizer. Finally, we will discuss our future work enhancing the initial CBO and present the general Presto roadmap for 2018 and beyond.