Coping with a working life as an imposter
It is not existing knowledge but the skill of acquiring new knowledge rapidly that will help you overcome imposter syndrome.
2026-05-27 (first published: 2020-09-19)
578 reads
Phil Factor
- Interests: Motorbikes, Beer, gardening, conservation, Local history.
The Wild Developers of SQL Server like Wildcards
Phil Factor explains the enduring attachment of database developers to wildcards, despite their current deficiencies.
2025-03-17 (first published: 2018-12-17)
677 reads
On Looking and Acting the Part
Phil Factor's offers tips for longevity in the world of IT consultancy: listen well, humiliate no-one and convince others that it was their expertise that solved the problem.
2024-12-27 (first published: 2020-01-18)
527 reads
Idempotent DDL Scripts That Always Achieve The Same Result - Making Changes Only Once: Stairway to Exploring Database Metadata Level 6
Idempotence is the property of certain operations in mathematics and computer science, that can be applied multiple times without changing the result beyond the first time they are run. When you are making changes to a database to deploy a new version, you need to be sure that certain changes aren’t made twice, or in the wrong order.
2023-10-04 (first published: 2016-12-21)
20,222 reads
Potholes in the Road of Progress
Phil Factor looks at some technologists more famous for thwarting progress than for their own creations.
2022-09-02 (first published: 2017-07-17)
417 reads
Reading and Writing your Database's Documentation using JSON
One of the problems to which I keep returning is finding the best way to read and apply documentation for databases. As part of a series of articles I'm doing for Redgate's Product Learning, I've been demonstrating how to maintain a single source of database documentation, in JSON, and then add and update the object […]
2021-06-28 (first published: 2021-05-28)
3,789 reads
Malleable Source Control
Git has proved to be a better fit to the needs and workflow of a database development team than anything that came before. Git is valuable because it encourages branching and merging, giving more choice in the way that your team can work. Due to the ease with which you can adapt Git, there is […]
2021-04-03
269 reads
Exploring Facts About SQL Server Tables: Stairway to Exploring Database Metadata Level 5
Now that we've explored, in preceding levels, some of the information that is available about indexes, triggers, keys and distribution statistics, we can concentrate on the tables themselves and their columns.
2021-01-13 (first published: 2016-12-07)
6,405 reads
Spoofing Data Convincingly: Text Data
Learn how to generate some convincing data for your development databases.
2021-01-05
3,048 reads
2020-12-12
410 reads
Blogs
SSMS Is Getting Smarter—and This Isn’t Just About Writing SQL
Continuing with my takeaways from SQLCon and FabCon Europe in Barcelona, let’s talk about...
Yippee-Kai-Yay 2027 Summit in Denver
By Steve Jones
Next year the PASS Data Community Summit is in DENVER! and London, but Denver...
PASS Data Community Summit 2026
By Steve Jones
Yesterday was the first day of sessions at the PASS Data Community Summit (after...
Forums
Pay for Performance
Comments posted to this topic are about the item Pay for Performance, which is...
BCA KCP Banjaran Adiwerna Hub/Wa. 0817-819-444
Jl. Raya Utara Adiwerna No.304, 306, Pejagan, Adiwerna, Kec. Adiwerna, Kabupaten Tegal, Jawa Tengah...
BCA KCP Ketanggungan Timur Hub/Wa. 0817-819-444
Jl. P. Diponegoro No.141, Dukuhtengah, Dukuh Tengah, Kec. Ketanggungan, Kabupaten Brebes, Jawa Tengah 52663
Question of the Day
Switching Schemas I
I run this query:
SELECT s.name AS schemaname , o.name AS objectname FROM sys.objects o INNER JOIN sys.schemas s ON s.schema_id = o.schema_id WHERE o.name = 'Beer'I get one row back for an object named dbo.beer. There is an ETL schema and both of these are nonpartitioned tables. I run this code:
ALTER TABLE dbo.beer switch TO etl.beerWhat happens? See possible answers