Which index type is default recommended for most scenarios?

Which index type is default recommended for most scenarios?

• A. Inverted indexes
• B. B-tree indexes
• C. Geospatial indexes
• D. Hash indexes

Answer: (B)

A balanced, ordered structure that supports range queries is the default for most scenarios. B-tree indexes store keys in sorted order and keep the tree height low, so searches, insertions, and range scans are fast and predictable. This makes it easy to perform exact lookups and to retrieve ranges of values in order, which covers a wide range of common data access patterns. Inverted indexes specialize in text search by mapping terms to documents, which is great for containment checks but not for ordered or range queries. Geospatial indexes are optimized for spatial predicates like distance and intersection, and their data structures are tailored for geometry rather than general ordering. Hash indexes provide fast exact-match lookups but do not support range scans or ordered outputs efficiently, so they aren’t suitable as a general-purpose default. That blend of good all-around performance for point queries and efficient ordered/range access is why B-tree is the go-to default.

A balanced, ordered structure that supports range queries is the default for most scenarios. B-tree indexes store keys in sorted order and keep the tree height low, so searches, insertions, and range scans are fast and predictable. This makes it easy to perform exact lookups and to retrieve ranges of values in order, which covers a wide range of common data access patterns.

Inverted indexes specialize in text search by mapping terms to documents, which is great for containment checks but not for ordered or range queries. Geospatial indexes are optimized for spatial predicates like distance and intersection, and their data structures are tailored for geometry rather than general ordering. Hash indexes provide fast exact-match lookups but do not support range scans or ordered outputs efficiently, so they aren’t suitable as a general-purpose default.

That blend of good all-around performance for point queries and efficient ordered/range access is why B-tree is the go-to default.