Query 10 times slower using LEFT JOIN CASE in order by - mysql

Question

I have a relatively long query (posted below for reference).
I have tried to debug why the query is so slow (2 seconds), and I have finally found the cause.
In the end of the query I do:
ORDER BY
-- order by date
DATE(p.date) DESC,
-- order by followed people
CASE WHEN n.id IS NULL THEN '0' ELSE '1' END DESC -- this case takes the query from 20ms to 2 seconds
If I remove the CASE order by, it'll execute in around 20 ms.
Why is this?
When I run the query with EXPLAIN, I notice the CASE will add "Using temporary" into the Extra field.
See EXPLAIN queries below:
Explain query with CASE WHEN n.id IS NULL THEN '0' ELSE '1' END DESC in order by
Explain query without CASE WHEN n.id IS NULL THEN '0' ELSE '1' END DESC in order by
The full query (if it may help):
SELECT
-- feed type
'1' AS feed_type,
-- fetch post data
p.id,
p.receiver,
p.date,
p.message,
p.system_msg,
p.type AS post_type,
-- fetch author data
u.user_id,
u.firstname,
u.lastname,
u.type,
u.permalink,
av.file AS avatar_file,
-- fetch receiever data
u2.user_id AS receiver_user_id,
u2.firstname AS receiver_firstname,
u2.lastname AS receiver_lastname,
u2.permalink AS receiver_permalink,
u2.type AS receiver_type,
-- fetch post comment count
(
SELECT
COUNT(*)
FROM
edu_posts pc
WHERE
pc.comment = p.id
AND pc.deleted IS NULL
) as commentCount,
-- fetch post like count
(
SELECT
COUNT(*)
FROM
edu_likes l
WHERE
l.like_entity = p.id
) as likeCount,
-- user follow state
CASE WHEN n.id IS NOT NULL THEN '1' ELSE '0' END as is_following,
-- check if user likes post
CASE WHEN l.like_id IS NOT NULL THEN '1' ELSE '0' END as user_likes
FROM
edu_posts p
INNER JOIN -- author information
edu_users u ON u.user_id = p.author
LEFT JOIN -- author avatar
edu_avatars av ON av.fk = p.author
AND av.temp = 0
AND av.fk_type = 1
LEFT JOIN -- receiver information (if any)
edu_users u2 ON u2.user_id = p.receiver
LEFT JOIN -- check if author/receiver is followed by current user
edu_notification_list n ON n.user = 1
AND n.following = 1
AND (
n.fk = p.author
OR n.fk = p.receiver
)
AND (
(
n.type = 5
AND p.type = 3
)
OR (
n.type = 2
AND p.type = 1
)
)
LEFT JOIN -- check if user likes the post
edu_likes l ON l.like_entity = p.id
AND l.like_author = 1
WHERE
p.deleted IS NULL
AND p.comment IS NULL
AND (
p.id = p.comment
OR 1 = 1
)
AND (
n.id IS NOT NULL
OR p.system_msg = 0
)
ORDER BY
-- order by date
DATE(p.date) DESC,
-- order by followed people
CASE WHEN n.id IS NULL THEN '0' ELSE '1' END DESC
LIMIT
20 OFFSET 0
NOTE: Please let me know, if you would like to see any of the other tables.

Answer 1

You perform an operation that can't make use of indexes. Instead try
ORDER BY DATE(p.date) DESC,
n.id IS NULL ASC