Estimating Cost of Query Execution on a Set of Data Accessible to a Computing System

A computer system, comprising:

• one or more processors;
• a memory to store computer-executable instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to execute instructions for estimating a cost of querying a set of data maintained in an electronic data store accessible to the system, the set of data having a varying plurality of records each comprising a plurality of datum at least one or which varies in size, the method comprising:
• executing logic to continually or repeatedly estimate a current shape of the set of data maintained in the electronic data store, including executing logic to estimate a current size of each of the plurality of datum in the plurality of records in the set of data;
• receiving via an interface of the system a query specifying:
• a value for a first datum in the plurality of records in the set of data, a selection of an additional one or more of the plurality of datum in the plurality of records in the set of data, and a maximum number of first datum to be retrieved from the plurality of records in the set of data that have a value that matches the specified value for the first datum;
• executing logic to estimate a cost of executing the query based on the maximum number of first datum to be retrieved from the plurality of records in the set of data that have the value that matches the specified value for the first datum, the selected additional one or more of the plurality of datum in the plurality of records in the set of data, and the estimated current size of the first datum and each of the selected additional one or more of the plurality of datum in the plurality of records in the set of data obtained from the estimated current shape of the set of data;
• and
• executing the query on the set of data responsive to the estimated cost of executing the query.

A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing computer-executable instructions that, when executed by one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to execute instructions for estimating a cost of querying a set of data maintained in an electronic data store accessible to the system, the set of data having a varying plurality of records each comprising a plurality of datum at least one of which varies in size, the method comprising:

• executing logic to continually or repeatedly estimate a current shape of the set of data maintained in the electronic data store, including executing logic to estimate a current size of each of the plurality of datum in the plurality of records in the set of data;
• receiving via an interface of the system a query specifying:
• a value for a first datum in the plurality of records in the set of data, a selection of an additional one or more of the plurality of datum in the plurality of records in the set of data, and a maximum number of first datum to be retrieved from the plurality of records in the set of data that have a value that matches the specified value for the first datum;
• executing logic to estimate a cost of executing the query based on the maximum number of first datum to be retrieved from the plurality of records in the set of data that have the value that matches the specified value for the first datum, the selected additional one or more of the plurality of datum in the plurality of records in the set of data, and the estimated current size of the first datum and each of the selected additional one or more of the plurality of datum in the plurality of records in the set of data obtained from the estimated current shape of the set of data;
• and
• executing the query on the set of data responsive to the estimated cost of executing the query.