Reverse index

Database management systems provide multiple types of indexes to improve performance and data integrity across diverse application. Index types include b-trees, bitmaps, and r-trees.

In database management systems, a reverse key index strategy reverses the key value before entering it in the index. E.g., the value 24538 becomes 83542 in the index. Reversing the key value is particularly useful for indexing data such as sequence numbers, where each new key value is greater than the prior value, i.e., values monotonically increase. Reverse key indexes have become particularly important in high volume transaction processing systems because they reduce contention for index blocks.