Last week’s quiz was on Table Value Constructors in TSQL.
Table value constructors let you create a dataset on the fly. These can occasionally be useful in writing queries, but I think playing with them has another benefit: they provide a simple, lightweight framework to let you develop your ability to think in sets.
I’ve just scheduled two new podcast recording sessions! These are live, half hour sessions - you can join in listen, or share comments. Here’s what we’ll be talking about….
What makes a person a DBA Hero? In this episode, I talk about how Robert Davis made a huge impact on the SQL Server community, and the traits that Robert displayed that I hope to emulate.
Last week I posted a quiz on SQL Operations Studio, a free, multi-platform tool from Microsoft..
This tool is under active development and the features are improving by the day – which makes it a great time to start trying out the tool and see what you like: because you can suggest changes!
I’ve been enjoying working with SQL Operations Studio lately - a new, free, cross-platform editor from Microsoft. The tool is under active development and it’s a great time to try it out and suggest changes for how you’d like to see the product work. (Here’s a suggestion I made this week, for example.)
Michelle asked a great question:
In your own words, why would one want to use a cross apply operator rather than a join operator? I’m old school, and I’m just not getting why a cross apply would be so much better to use than a join.
I’ve gotten a few questions about whether I recommend learning Service Broker, and recently I was asked if I’m planning to make any courses on Service Broker.
In this 23 minute episode, I talk about why I personally haven’t become an expert with Broker, the factors that I believe play into Service Broker adoption, and other resources online for learning Service Broker in SQL Server.
BREAK is a useful piece of control-of-flow language in SQL Server, but it only works in specific situations. Break Questions, Answers, and Explanations 1) If you run this code in a SQL Server Management Studio session, what will appear in the Messages window? BREAK; PRINT 2; Answer: Msg 135, Level 15, State 1, Line 6 Cannot use a BREAK statement outside the scope of a WHILE statement. How’d people do?
I recently received my seventh “Most Valuable Professional” award from Microsoft. Oddly, I don’t think I’ve ever written about what this award means to me until this point.
RETURN is a “control of flow” language keyword in Transact-SQL. It’s very useful for managing when code does – and does NOT – get executed in procedural code, and it can also be used to communicate the status from procedural code.
But not everyone knows how to use RETURN, and learning about it can be awkward because of some quirks of SQL Server Management Studio. It is well worth taking the time to get used to it, though!
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