T-SQL Can Be Expressive Without Sacrificing Performance
There are often multiple ways to express a query and get the same results, often without any change in performance. Learn about one example.
Why is SQL Server's internal database version important?
In this tip, I talk about the compatibility between major versions and SQL Server's internal database version.
Obscure Changes in SQL Server 2022, Part 3 : ShowPlan
I continue looking at some of the changes in SQL Server 2022 that aren't on the marketing slides.
How to be a more productive DBA / DBRE
I talk about some of the things I do to be more productive, and hopefully some of these can help you in your role, too.
Obscure Changes in SQL Server 2022, Part 2 : Setup
I warn about a cumbersome change to setup, where something is checked by default when it shouldn't be.
New features in T-SQL for SQL Server 2022
The first public preview of SQL Server 2022 is here! Read about my favorite T-SQL enhancements.
Some of the more obscure changes in SQL Server 2022, Part 1
I take a look at some of the underlying changes in SQL Server 2022, as reflected in system metadata.
Leadership Award from MSSQLTips.com
Today I received a mind-blowing award for my 200th tip at MSSQLTips.com.
T-SQL Tuesday #150 : My First Technical Job
My first technical job was taking horse bets at an off-track bar when I was 17.
Find a string in all views and/or tables in some or all databases
In 2015, I wrote about a stored procedure to find strings within all tables across all user databases. In this follow-up tip, I enhance the procedure to optionally include views and search within specific databases.
A minor CPU upgrade
Some quick notes on how easy it was to take advantage of falling Ryzen prices.
SQL Server 2019 Cumulative Update #16
SQL Server 2019 Cumulative Update #16 is available, with 47 enhancements. The build number is 15.0.4223.1.
Building DBML syntax from SQL Server
I show how to piece together portions of SQL Server metadata to generate DBML (which is more useful than it sounds).
Populate dimension tables dynamically – Parts 1 & 2
I wrote two tips around what you can do when a table that stores the same strings over and over again has grown to an unmanageable size: create a dimension table!
Why I always start CTEs with a statement terminator
I talk about why every CTE I write starts with a semi-colon, and why you won't change my mind about it.
All you NOLOCK lovers better read this!
A recent documentation update raises questions about the love-it-or-hate-it READ UNCOMMITTED isolation level.
SQL Server 2017 Cumulative Update #29
SQL Server 2017 Cumulative Update #29 is available, with 18 enhancements. The build number is 14.0.3436.1.
Interview with Kevin Kline for Orange Matter
I recently sat down with long-time friend Kevin Kline, who grilled me a little about my new role at Stack Overflow, our industry in general, and why we sometimes stay in jobs we don't enjoy.
Advanced report examples using PIVOT and GROUPING SETS
In this tip I show how I combine GROUPING SETS and PIVOT to get crosstab-style reports without Excel.
FORMAT is a convenient but expensive function, part 2
In the second part of this series, I show two ways to shift expensive computations to write time.
String Aggregation Over the Years in SQL Server
I talk about progress in aggregating strings – both in the functionality offered by SQL Server and the quality of my own code samples.