Most of the time in SQL Server, the MAX() function and a TOP(1) ORDER BY DESC will behave very similarly.
If you give them a rowstore index leading on the column in question, they’re generally smart enough to go to the correct end of the index, and – BOOP! – just pluck out the data you need without doing a big scan.
It’s T-SQL Tuesday’s 8 year birthday (or close enough), and Adam Machanic has challenged us with the question: what will the world be like when T-SQLTuesday turns 16?
I’ve got a whole slew of free webcasts and events coming this spring. I’m excited about each and every one of them!
I recently wrote a fairly complicated post, called “Forced Plan Confusion: Is_Forced vs Use Plan = True.”
You do NOT need to go read that post to understand this one. I think I’ve found simpler way to explain the most important part of that post - and why it’s A Very Good Thing.
You may have noticed that there’s something about cartoons combined with SQL Server that makes me happy. Having those images on my desktop inspires me and helps me feel creative. Work should involve fun.
SQL Server Management Studio version 17.5 adds a welcome feature for execution plans: a new visual attribute named EstimateRowsWithoutRowGoal.
I’m at the Microsoft MVP Summit in Redmond, Washington this week. This is a great event for learning from the folks building amazing new technology at Microsoft, giving feedback and representing the community, and meeting and learning from other MVPs from around the world.
Identifying that a query plan has been bossed around in Query Store can be a bit tricky, because it can appear in different ways.
I’m thrilled to have just finished and published a new course on Automatic Tuning in SQL Server. This feature is available in SQL Server 2017+ and Azure SQL Database.
Update: this course is now open and totally free to all.
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