Question: Is there a difference between a UNIQUE CONSTRAINT versus UNIQUE INDEX?

Answer: Creating a UNIQUE CONSTRAINT automatically creates a UNIQUE INDEX. This makes a UNIQUE CONSTRAINT and UNIQUE INDEX similar.

The query optimizer interprets an explicitly created UNIQUE INDEX or a CONSTRAINT created index as the same.

Data is validated in the same way and both check for unique data

Deciding when to implement a UNIQUE CONSTRAINT versus a UNIQUE INDEX is an issue of design. A UNIQUE CONSTRAINT is part of the database design logical view. A UNIQUE INDEX is part of the database design physical view

--how to create a unique constraint
ALTER TABLE myTable ADD CONSTRAINT
            myConstraint UNIQUE NONCLUSTERED
    (
               A_col
    )

--how to create a unique index
CREATE UNIQUE INDEX uix_my_unique_index ON myTable(a_col)

 

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