When Should I Use Explicit Transactions for Single Statements?
I got a great question about transactions by email recently about transactions.
New SQLChallenge: Defuse the Deadlock
When I first created SQLWorkbooks, I distilled what it was all about down into one sentence: “Learn SQL Server by Solving Problems.”
This month, I introduce my first SQLChallenge, which distills that down into practice. The SQLChallenge features 23 minutes of video with scripts that you can use to reproduce and solve the problem yourself.
When Were Statistics Last Updated for a Heap?
I got a question last week from a very smart fellow:
How can I tell when statistics were last updated for a heap?
Before I could email him back, I soon got another email in which he answered his own question.
How I Accidentally Found a Passion for Plants (#TSQL2sDay 99)
For TSQL Tuesday #99, @AaronBertrand gave us an invitation to write about something we’re passionate about outside of SQL Server.
Formatting a VTT Caption File into a Transcript with Sublime Text and Multiple Regular Expressions
Do you ever need to use a text editor to apply regular expressions to files? If so, this post is for you! If not, you may wanna skip it and just return to it if you ever need it.
Does a Clustered Index Give a Default Ordering?
I recently got a great question: if I order by a column where all rows in that column have the same value, will SQL Server then order the results by the clustered index key?
Watch my live session: When Partitioning Indexes Hurts Performance (and How to Fix It)
I’m very that my session on table partitioning from the 2017 SQL PASS Summit is being featured as one of the “Best of Summit” videos.
I had a terrific time presenting this session, thanks to everyone in the audience: you were awesome!
You can watch the video here, and follow the link above to see even more great videos from the conference for free.
Watch the first lesson in my new Repeatable Read and Serializable Isolation Levels course! (Video with transcript and captions)
Woo hoo! I’ve just added a new course: Repeatable Read and Serializable Isolation Levels in SQL Server.
Update: even better news… courses are now open and free for all :smile:
New Course: Indexing for Windowing Functions (with preview lesson)
I’ve just added a fresh new course: Indexing for Windowing Functions. Here’s the rundown: Windowing functions give you great flexibility for analyzing data in SQL Server. But how can you get the best performance for your windowing functions? In this 45 minute, demo-packed course, you will learn index design for windowing functions, when batch mode may be important, and how to compare the performance of Window Spool and Window Aggregate operators.
New free webcasts! How keys & includes work, dirty secrets of NOLOCK, and more
As we count down to the end of 2017, I’ve just scheduled a fresh batch of free, live webinars for 2018! Join me on Thursdays at 9 am Pacific / noon Eastern / 4 PM UTC.