1. A method comprising: based on a predicate that specifies criteria for filtering results of a query that targets a table, programming reconfigurable hardware of a filtering unit with the predicate; wherein the predicate specifies a condition for a particular column of the table; wherein programming the reconfigurable hardware with the predicate creates a filter unit hardware circuit that is configured to apply the predicate; causing the filter unit hardware circuit to generate a first predicate result by loading values, from the particular column, into the filter unit hardware circuit; wherein hardware configuration of the filter unit hardware circuit causes the predicate to be applied to the values; wherein the first predicate result identifies rows of the table that have values, within the particular column, that satisfy the condition specified by the predicate; selecting rows to return, as results of the query, based at least in part on the first predicate result; returning the selected rows as results to the query; based on a second predicate that specifies criteria for filtering results that targets the table, programming the reconfigurable hardware of the filtering unit with the second predicate; wherein the second predicate specifies a condition for a second column of the table; wherein programming the reconfigurable hardware with the predicate creates a second filter unit hardware circuit that is configured to apply the second predicate; causing the second filter unit hardware circuit to generate a second predicate result by loading values, from the second column, into the second filter unit hardware circuit; wherein hardware configuration of the second filter unit hardware circuit causes the second predicate to be applied to the values; wherein the second predicate result identifies rows of the table that have values, within the second column, that satisfy the condition specified by the second predicate; wherein the method is performed by one or more computing devices.
1. A method comprising: based on a predicate that specifies criteria for filtering results of a query that targets a table, programming reconfigurable hardware of a filtering unit with the predicate; wherein the predicate specifies a condition for a particular column of the table; wherein programming the reconfigurable hardware with the predicate creates a filter unit hardware circuit that is configured to apply the predicate; causing the filter unit hardware circuit to generate a first predicate result by loading values, from the particular column, into the filter unit hardware circuit; wherein hardware configuration of the filter unit hardware circuit causes the predicate to be applied to the values; wherein the first predicate result identifies rows of the table that have values, within the particular column, that satisfy the condition specified by the predicate; selecting rows to return, as results of the query, based at least in part on the first predicate result; returning the selected rows as results to the query; based on a second predicate that specifies criteria for filtering results that targets the table, programming the reconfigurable hardware of the filtering unit with the second predicate; wherein the second predicate specifies a condition for a second column of the table; wherein programming the reconfigurable hardware with the predicate creates a second filter unit hardware circuit that is configured to apply the second predicate; causing the second filter unit hardware circuit to generate a second predicate result by loading values, from the second column, into the second filter unit hardware circuit; wherein hardware configuration of the second filter unit hardware circuit causes the second predicate to be applied to the values; wherein the second predicate result identifies rows of the table that have values, within the second column, that satisfy the condition specified by the second predicate; wherein the method is performed by one or more computing devices. 8. The method of claim 1 , wherein causing the filter unit hardware circuit to generate a first predicate result by loading values, from the particular column, into the filter unit hardware circuit comprises: loading a first set of values from the particular column stored in a first block of memory: causing the filtering unit to apply the predicate to the first set of values to generate a first bitvector that identifies rows of the table that have values stored within the first block of memory that satisfy the condition specified by the predicate; loading a second set of values from the particular column stored in a second block of memory: causing the filtering unit to apply the predicate to the second set of values to generate a second bitvector that identifies rows of the table that have values stored within the second block of memory that satisfy the condition specified by the predicate.