---
title: "Discussion on \"The Index Is a Bet You Made at Write Time\" | Hashnode"
description: "Discussion on \"The Index Is a Bet You Made at Write Time\". Search indexes are representations built before the query exists, preserving some distinctions, discarding others, and shaping what retrieval can see."
url: "https://hashnode.com/posts/the-index-is-a-bet-you-made-at-write-time/6abfb51ef89f8496ad1cc061"
---

[Feed](https://hashnode.com/feed) /

Discussion

# [The Index Is a Bet You Made at Write Time](https://chidinma.dev/the-index-is-a-bet-you-made-at-write-time?utm_source=hashnode&utm_medium=feed)

Search indexes are representations built before the query exists, preserving some distinctions, discarding others, and shaping what retrieval can see.

Oct 2 · 21 min read · chidinma.dev  
Read the article

-   [#search](https://hashnode.com/tag/search)
-   [#search-engines](https://hashnode.com/tag/search-engines)
-   [#inverted-index](https://hashnode.com/tag/inverted-index)
-   [#information-retrival](https://hashnode.com/tag/information-retrival)
-   [#system-design](https://hashnode.com/tag/system-design)
-   [#distributed-systems](https://hashnode.com/tag/distributed-systems)
-   [#semantic-search](https://hashnode.com/tag/semantic-search)
-   [#precomputation](https://hashnode.com/tag/precomputation)
-   [#embeddings](https://hashnode.com/tag/embeddings)

## Written by

[Chidinma](https://hashnode.com/@ChidinmaKO)

@ChidinmaKO · Netherlands

  
[View profile](https://hashnode.com/@ChidinmaKO)

I write about why systems break, and why they were always going to.

## Responses

Markdown supported · ⌘↵ to post

No responses yet.