# Best practices
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This section contains the following best practices for tuning Spark SQL queries for Amazon EMR and AWS Glue:
+ [Using join hints in Spark SQL](using-join-hints-in-spark-sql.md)
+ [Using SQL window functions instead of join and groupBy](using-sql-window-functions.md)
+ [Using columnar format when caching](using-columnar-format-when-caching.md)
+ [Partitioning hints in Spark 3.0.0](using-partitioning-hints.md)
+ [Using Adaptive Query Execution](using-adaptive-query-execution.md)
+ [Pruning dynamic partitions](pruning-dynamic-partitions.md)
+ [Using the Spark cost-based optimizer](using-the-spark-cbo.md)
+ [Using columnar formats for better query performance](using-columnar-formats.md)