Part 42: Bulk Inserting Multiple Rows Efficiently

Executing 10,000 individual INSERT statements creates massive network round-trip latency.

1. Multi-Row Values Syntax

INSERT INTO categories (name, description) VALUES
  ('Electronics', 'Gadgets and hardware'),
  ('Books', 'Physical and electronic books'),
  ('Home', 'Furniture and decor');

2. Performance Comparison

• 1,000 single-row inserts: ~4.5 seconds.
• 1 bulk insert of 1,000 rows: ~0.08 seconds (50x faster!).

Key Takeaways

• Batch inserts into multi-row statements (batches of 500–1,000 rows) for optimal throughput.

In Part 43, we explore Inserting Data from Other Tables: INSERT INTO ... SELECT!