docs/topics/impala_ndv.xml

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<!DOCTYPE concept PUBLIC "-//OASIS//DTD DITA Concept//EN" "concept.dtd">
<concept rev="1.2.1" id="ndv">

  <title>NDV Function</title>
  <titlealts audience="PDF"><navtitle>NDV</navtitle></titlealts>
  <prolog>
    <metadata>
      <data name="Category" value="Impala"/>
      <data name="Category" value="SQL"/>
      <data name="Category" value="Impala Functions"/>
      <data name="Category" value="Aggregate Functions"/>
      <data name="Category" value="Querying"/>
      <data name="Category" value="Developers"/>
      <data name="Category" value="Data Analysts"/>
    </metadata>
  </prolog>

  <conbody>

    <p>
      <indexterm audience="hidden">ndv() function</indexterm>
      An aggregate function that returns an approximate value similar to the result of <codeph>COUNT(DISTINCT
      <varname>col</varname>)</codeph>, the <q>number of distinct values</q>. It is much faster than the
      combination of <codeph>COUNT</codeph> and <codeph>DISTINCT</codeph>, and uses a constant amount of memory and
      thus is less memory-intensive for columns with high cardinality.
    </p>

    <p conref="../shared/impala_common.xml#common/syntax_blurb"/>

<codeblock>NDV([DISTINCT | ALL] <varname>expression</varname>)</codeblock>

    <p conref="../shared/impala_common.xml#common/usage_notes_blurb"/>

    <p rev="1.2.2">
      This is the mechanism used internally by the <codeph>COMPUTE STATS</codeph> statement for computing the
      number of distinct values in a column.
    </p>

    <p>
      Because this number is an estimate, it might not reflect the precise number of different values in the
      column, especially if the cardinality is very low or very high. If the estimated number is higher than the
      number of rows in the table, Impala adjusts the value internally during query planning.
    </p>

    <p conref="../shared/impala_common.xml#common/former_odd_return_type_string"/>

<!-- <p conref="../shared/impala_common.xml#common/restrictions_sliding_window"/> -->

    <p conref="../shared/impala_common.xml#common/complex_types_blurb"/>

    <p conref="../shared/impala_common.xml#common/complex_types_aggregation_explanation"/>

    <p conref="../shared/impala_common.xml#common/complex_types_aggregation_example"/>

    <p conref="../shared/impala_common.xml#common/restrictions_blurb"/>

    <p conref="../shared/impala_common.xml#common/analytic_not_allowed_caveat"/>

    <p conref="../shared/impala_common.xml#common/example_blurb"/>

    <p>
      The following example queries a billion-row table to illustrate the relative performance of
      <codeph>COUNT(DISTINCT)</codeph> and <codeph>NDV()</codeph>. It shows how <codeph>COUNT(DISTINCT)</codeph>
      gives a precise answer, but is inefficient for large-scale data where an approximate result is sufficient.
      The <codeph>NDV()</codeph> function gives an approximate result but is much faster.
    </p>

<codeblock>select count(distinct col1) from sample_data;
+---------------------+
| count(distinct col1)|
+---------------------+
| 100000              |
+---------------------+
Fetched 1 row(s) in 20.13s

select cast(ndv(col1) as bigint) as col1 from sample_data;
+----------+
| col1     |
+----------+
| 139017   |
+----------+
Fetched 1 row(s) in 8.91s
</codeblock>

    <p>
      The following example shows how you can code multiple <codeph>NDV()</codeph> calls in a single query, to
      easily learn which columns have substantially more or fewer distinct values. This technique is faster than
      running a sequence of queries with <codeph>COUNT(DISTINCT)</codeph> calls.
    </p>

<codeblock>select cast(ndv(col1) as bigint) as col1, cast(ndv(col2) as bigint) as col2,
    cast(ndv(col3) as bigint) as col3, cast(ndv(col4) as bigint) as col4
  from sample_data;
+----------+-----------+------------+-----------+
| col1     | col2      | col3       | col4      |
+----------+-----------+------------+-----------+
| 139017   | 282       | 46         | 145636240 |
+----------+-----------+------------+-----------+
Fetched 1 row(s) in 34.97s

select count(distinct col1) from sample_data;
+---------------------+
| count(distinct col1)|
+---------------------+
| 100000              |
+---------------------+
Fetched 1 row(s) in 20.13s

select count(distinct col2) from sample_data;
+----------------------+
| count(distinct col2) |
+----------------------+
| 278                  |
+----------------------+
Fetched 1 row(s) in 20.09s

select count(distinct col3) from sample_data;
+-----------------------+
| count(distinct col3)  |
+-----------------------+
| 46                    |
+-----------------------+
Fetched 1 row(s) in 19.12s

select count(distinct col4) from sample_data;
+----------------------+
| count(distinct col4) |
+----------------------+
| 147135880            |
+----------------------+
Fetched 1 row(s) in 266.95s
</codeblock>
  </conbody>
</concept>