Count of Distinct elements performance problem

[Jason Hunter]

Michael Kay wrote:
> A performance question like this can only be answered with respect to
> a specific product.

Exactly.  With MarkLogic, a server-based indexed repository from the 
company where I work (marklogic.com), you could execute a query like 
that in roughly a second, once the document was loaded and indexed.  In 
fact, functionality exactly like what you're trying to do is used by 
large medical journal aggregator customers of ours to display citation 
counts of articles, for example.

Without an indexed repo, I think you're going to have a hard time.

-jh-