Besides indexes, what else do you pay attention to when optimizing queries?

When optimizing queries, in addition to indexes, it is important to pay attention to the following aspects:

• Query execution plan analysis — using EXPLAIN or similar tools helps understand which operations take the most time.
• JOIN optimization — correct order of joins and using appropriate JOIN types.
• Selecting only necessary columns — avoid SELECT *.
• Filtering data at the database level — move WHERE conditions into the query to reduce the amount of data transferred.
• Caching results — if data does not change often.
• Using appropriate data types — to reduce the volume of stored and processed data.
• Minimizing subqueries and using aggregate functions efficiently.

Example of query analysis with EXPLAIN in PostgreSQL:

EXPLAIN ANALYZE SELECT name FROM users WHERE age > 30;

This will help identify bottlenecks and make optimization decisions.