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Finding the One Query to Tune in a Multi-Query Batch
When you have a stored procedure or application query that has multiple queries inside of it, how can you tell which query to focus on? For starters, do NOT believe the percentages you see in execution...
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How to Insert Rows and Get Their Identity Values with the OUTPUT Clause
Say you’ve got a two-step process where you’re: Inserting rows into a table that has an identity column, then Querying that table to figure out what identities you got There’s a a faster way that...
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How to Set & Get the Next ID Without Serializable Isolation
Say for some reason you can’t use identity columns or sequences, or maybe your application was built a long, long time ago – and you’ve got a table with a list of IDs to use next:DROP TABLE IF EXISTS...
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Your SQL Server skills need an upgrade. Good news: my Black Friday sale is on.
You’re a developer or database administrator who’s been working with SQL Server for a while now. You’re self-taught, Googling for answers as you go, reading blog posts, watching a free online...
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When Do I Need to Use DESC in Indexes?
If I take the Users table from any Stack Overflow database, put an index on Reputation, and write a query to find the top 100 users sorted by reputation, descending:CREATE INDEX Reputation ON dbo.Users...
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Today’s the Last Day of My Black Friday Sale.
Every year, I get an avalanche of emails after the sale is over, going, “I forgot about the sale! I didn’t get my boss’s approval in time!” So here it is, folks: your last day to get in. Here are the...
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Finding the One Query to Tune in a Multi-Query Batch
When you have a stored procedure or application query that has multiple queries inside of it, how can you tell which query to focus on? For starters, do NOT believe the percentages you see in execution...
View ArticleClik here to view.
How to Insert Rows and Get Their Identity Values with the OUTPUT Clause
Say you’ve got a two-step process where you’re: Inserting rows into a table that has an identity column, then Querying that table to figure out what identities you got There’s a a faster way that...
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Autoparameterized Trivial Queries May Not Get Partition Elimination
How’s that for a niche topic? You’re probably never going to know this, but since I had to figure it out the hard way, I’m writing this down so I don’t forget it: queries that get trivial optimization...
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SQL ConstantCare® Population Report: Fall 2020
Ever wonder how fast people are adopting new versions of SQL Server, or what’s “normal” out there for SQL Server adoption rates, hardware sizes, or numbers of databases? Let’s find out in the summer...
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New Class: Fundamentals of TempDB – Instant Replays Ready Now
Yesterday, I taught my first Fundamentals of TempDB class, and as always, you can watch the Instant Replays right after class completes. Here’s the abstract: You’ve been working with Microsoft SQL...
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Are You Underpaid? Let’s Find Out: The Data Professional Salary Survey is Open.
It’s time for our annual salary survey to find out what data professionals make. You fill out the data, we open source the whole thing, and you can analyze the data to spot trends and do a better job...
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Free Webcast: 3 Ways to Prove Your SQL Server Storage is Slow
Your users are complaining that their queries are slow. You’ve tried changing SQL Server settings, tuning indexes, but the problem just won’t go away. You’ve got a hunch that it’s a storage problem,...
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Wanna Ask Me Anything About Careers & Professional Development?
I’ll be answering your questions from right here. Ever wanted to ask me questions about careers or professional development? Now’s your chance. Post your questions here (update: questions are closed)–...
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[Video] Office Hours: SQL Server Career Q&A, Part 1
I posted a call for questions about SQL Server careers and professional development, and y’all asked a lot of good ones. Here were the questions you upvoted the most, and I’ll post another round of ’em...
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Frequently Asked Questions from Office Hours
In my Twitch & YouTube live streams, some questions seem to come up every week. I’m not expecting this post to stop ’em by any means – most folks on the live stream don’t seem to read the blog...
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The End of the Professional Association for SQL Server #SQLPASS
This afternoon, PASS announced that their operations will cease in January: We are saddened to tell you that, due to the impact of COVID-19, PASS is ceasing all regular operations, effective January...
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How to Batch Updates A Few Thousand Rows at a Time
You’ve got a staging table with millions of rows, and you want to join that over to a production table and update the contents. However, when you try to do it all in one big statement, you end up with...
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[Video] Office Hours: SQL Server Career Q&A, Part 2
Last week, I posted a call for questions about SQL Server careers and professional development, and y’all asked a lot of good ones. Here’s the next video with the questions you upvoted the most, and...
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As an Attendee, What’s Important to You In a New Data Community?
With PASS shutting down, it’s time to think about what the community builds in its place. There are a lot of efforts going towards building replacements for PASS, including Microsoft’s own efforts....
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