1. A method for efficiently identifying materialized view candidates for queries in a database system, the database system including a plurality of base tables, a plurality of materialized views, and a plurality of materialized view signatures corresponding to the materialized views, comprising the steps of: (a) receiving a query on the base tables; (b) obtaining the materialized view signatures, wherein each materialized view signature comprises information concerning a content of the corresponding materialized view; and (c) filtering the materialized views based on the materialized view signatures to identify materialized view candidates for the query.