The need to test a program that accesses and manipulates a back-end SQL Server® database is very common. In many such cases, the application interacts with the back-end data through the use of SQL stored procedures. In this type of scenario, you can think of the stored procedures as auxiliary methods of the system under test; and they must therefore be tested just like any other module in the system.  Read more...

SQL Server source code analysis and management add database security by debugging and testing SQL applications. Learn about SQL source code analysis.  Read more...

Greg Larsen looks at one way to design your database connection strategy to simplify changing application connections so you can plug-n-play databases with less administrative overhead when the need arises.  Read more...

Continuing on with his series on building a game in SQL Server, Steve Fibich expands the schema and objects in this article.  Read more...

Few would disagree that striving for a loosely coupled design is a bad thing. Unfortunately, the software we typically design is much more tightly coupled than we intend. How can you tell whether your design is tightly coupled?  Read more...

A look at how you can implement error handling in your stored procedures.  Read more...

In our organization, I have noticed that database requirements are never included as a portion of the system requirements. The requirements always focus on the interface and we derive the database design from the interface as well as fill in some of the gaps.  Read more...

Longtime SQL Server expert David Poole brings us a look at Agile Development and how he's been converted. (From Feb 2008)  Read more...

In this video, Randy Dyess shows you how important SQL Server dependencies are and some of the faults with SQL Server 2005 with these. For example, SQL Server will allow you to create a stored procedure that points to a table that doesn't exist. He also shows you how this problem has been corrected in SQL Server 2008.   Read more...

Testing is an important part of any software development process, but it's a part that many of us skimp on or ignore because of the tedious nature of testing. Longtime author Grant Fritchey has been working with Visual Studio Team Edition for Database Professionals and has written us an article on how you can make your unit testing easier.   Read more...

This article presents ten business analysis guidelines, representing best practices from successful projects.  Read more...

In this column, I'll dig into check-in notes and policies. You'll learn how check-in notes work and how to write your own custom policy implementations.  Read more...

This handy control gives you everything you need to control how users input usernames, passwords, select servers, and choose connection types.   Read more...

This article discusses prioritizing code by age, using analysis tools and automation, looking at threats from multiple angles, and the importance of education   Read more...

SQL Server 2005 offers T-SQL language features that can improve your productivity.   Read more...

Some managers love to look solely at numbers when assessing performance, and key performance indicators (KPIs) are right up their street. But how useful are they in the context of software development  Read more...

In the latest in their popular series on 'Unit Testing' database development work , Alex K and Alex S give some examples of unit testing Database Modifications  Read more...

Alex and Alex continue their series of three articles on 'Unit Testing' database development work with some examples of unit testing stored procedures.   Read more...

Scott examines strategies for dealing with constraints that business stakeholders may put on software development teams.   Read more...

A thought provoking article from SQL Server expert and trainer Andy Warren. As a DBA you should think about the rules and decrees you have developed over the years and revisit them for application in your current situation.   Read more...