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Execution Plans: Check the First Operator

Grant Fritchey reminds us to look at the first operation when viewing an execution plan:

The first time you see a new execution plan that you’re examining to fix a performance problem, something broken, whatever, you should always start by looking at the first operator.

First Operator

The first operator is easily discerned (with an exception). It’s the very first thing you see in a graphical execution plan, at the top, on the left. It says SELECT in this case:

It’s easy to overlook, but Grant gives some good reasons not to do so.