I also agree, that you must write SQL code maintainable. But NOT on the way they describe in this article. If you check VB.NET or C# developers, they all write in good maintainable code. If they use SQL, then it is an disaster. I have some good samples:
When you use columns in a select statement, place the comma at firtst. Now you can easely comment a column:
SELECT ColumnA
, ColumnB
-- , ColumnC
FROM TABLE1 WITH (NOLOCK)
WHERE STATEMENT1 = @p_PARAMETER
AND STATEMENT2 = @l_PARAMETER
I also places all columnnames on the same place and all signs and parameters. Now you can easily read the code.
>>If you check VB.NET or C# developers, they all write in good maintainable code
Being a .NET developer I can safely say that they do not all write in good maintainable code.
Just weighing in... good points in the article... I think some comments have their place, for example when you do something strange in the code for a good reason. An example I used recently is I had to create an in-line query that was nested twice. It was very unpleasant but it did the job. I commented it carefully so that developers who had to maintain the code could understand the thought process and why it was done like that.
My only pet-peeve regarding comments is when developers comment out reams of code and LEAVE IT IN THE PROGRAM. Trying to read and decipher that is a difficult task. It is even more pointless if you are using a version maintenance tool, such as SourceSafe. Just remove it, add a comment if you must indicating that code was removed and refer to SourceSafe. When I have to maintain a new program, I do 2 things, one is add whitespace, as article author indicated, and two is delete commented out code.
MikeZane
Heh... I asked the same thing... and the answer is... crappola 3rd party software.
So, Mike, you never hardcode anything?
