Elasticsearch powers search for countless applications. Full-text search with relevance scoring finds the best matches. Aggregations enable faceted navigation. Suggesters provide autocomplete and spell correction.
Index Design
Define mappings specifying field types and analyzers. Choose analyzers matching your language and use case. Configure shards and replicas for scale and availability. Plan for index lifecycle management.
- Define explicit mappings rather than relying on dynamic mapping
- Choose appropriate analyzers for search fields
- Use keyword type for exact match fields like IDs
- Configure synonyms for improved search recall
- Implement search-as-you-type for autocomplete
Query Techniques
Combine match queries for relevance with filters for constraints. Use bool queries composing multiple conditions. Boost important fields for better ranking. Implement highlighting showing matched terms.