How to write an UPDATE query
My First UPDATE Statement Last week we covered how to put information into a table using an INSERT statement. This week we will learn how to make changes to data that is already in a… How to write an UPDATE query
How to write an INSERT query
My First INSERT Statement Last week we covered how to get information out of a table, using a SELECT query. This week, we will discover some of the myriad ways to put data into a… How to write an INSERT query
How to write a SELECT query
My First SELECT Statement Microsoft SQL Server makes it really easy for us to query tables. In SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS) for instance, we can right-click on any table we have access to and… How to write a SELECT query
Querying a Database
When we want to retrieve information from a database, we query the structure with language appropriate to the database. Remember right at the start of this series we saw that a database could be a… Querying a Database
Normalization, The Sequel
If there’s one thing that SQL Server is really good at, it’s relationships. After all, a relational database management system without the relationships is nothing more than a place to store your stuff. Last week… Normalization, The Sequel
A First Look At Normalization
Phew! There’s a lot to take in with data types, collation, precision, scale, length, and Unicode, and we’re just getting warmed up. This week’s post is over 2,000 words long!
Over the last three weeks, we’ve gone fairly deep into data types, and now we are going to see how they come into play with normalization.
If we go back to the first post in this series, I mentioned normalization, and then apparently I forgot about it in the next two posts. What you didn’t see is that I was talking about it all along.
Fundamentals of Data Types
Last week, we discussed storing text in a database. This week we will dive deeper into data types. When storing data in our database, we want to make sure that it’s stored accurately and that… Fundamentals of Data Types
Data Types and Collation
Last week we started with a very simple definition of a database: a discrete set of information, with a specific structure and order to it. We briefly looked at normalization, which is a way to… Data Types and Collation
Testing for Object Existence: CREATE OR ALTER
For the longest time, T-SQL writers have had to wrestle with ways of testing for an object’s existence so that it can either be dropped and recreated, or modified as needed. Last week we covered… Testing for Object Existence: CREATE OR ALTER
Testing for Object Existence: DROP … IF EXISTS
For the longest time, T-SQL writers have had to wrestle with ways of testing for an object’s existence so that it can either be dropped and recreated, or modified as needed. This is especially common… Testing for Object Existence: DROP … IF EXISTS
Temporal Tables and Hidden Period Columns
In my November 2015 post, An Introduction to Temporal Tables in SQL Server 2016 using a DeLorean, I wrote: The HIDDEN property is optional and will hide these columns from a standard SELECT statement for… Temporal Tables and Hidden Period Columns
Temporal Tables and History Retention
I’m a huge fan of Temporal Tables in SQL Server 2016. I first wrote about them, in a four-part series in November 2015, before SQL Server was even released. I don’t always get this excited… Temporal Tables and History Retention
Updated Max Server Memory Script
Earlier this year I released a free T-SQL script that will calculate the correct amount of RAM you should allocate to SQL Server, assuming it is a standalone instance. After attending the PASS Summit in Seattle in… Updated Max Server Memory Script
Look, Ma, No Surprises
Last week I demonstrated at least 30% performance improvement by switching to memory optimised table-valued parameters on SQL Server 2016. This week I will demonstrate the same test using Azure SQL Database, on the Premium… Look, Ma, No Surprises
How to make your T-SQL thirty percent faster
Last week, I mentioned a feature in SQL Server, and now in Azure SQL Database, called Memory-Optimized Table-Valued Parameters, which makes use of In-Memory OLTP structures to work around a dependency on tempdb, and thereby… How to make your T-SQL thirty percent faster