STATISTICS IO might not always tell the whole truth about data being read to process a query.

I follow up on an earlier post about trimming time from datetime, this time examining the performance characteristics of various methods without data access.

Tip : Script to create dynamic PIVOT queries in SQL Server

I show several reasons why you should stop using the sp_ prefix on stored procedures in SQL Server, including a (minor) performance hit.

See if there is anything to gain by checking first if a particular column should be updated.