This article is a case study and an attempt to explain an interesting phenomenon with data anomalies that is commonly called Simpson's Paradox.   Read more...

A short story on using the mod function to a shifting query.  Read more...

This article shows a few techniques that help in capturing deleted records.  Read more...

Today Steve Jones looks at the CREATE OR ALTER syntax, added in SQL Server 2016 SP1.  Read more...

The issue of copyright for online scripts is a grey area. If a script is published without any form of copyright notice, most people assume that it is freely available for reuse. It's not necessarily the case.  Read more...

Using wildcard to find patterns in strings going from the basics to some more complicated conditions.  Read more...

Use OUTPUT to perform an INSERT and a DELETE at the same time.  Read more...

After the first article created a Calendar table, learn how to use this in a practical sense with some common queries.  Read more...

One common request often seen in T-SQL is working with queues of information. In this piece, J. Drew Allen will show to use windowing functions and the OVER clause to process a FIFO queue.  Read more...

Data types are an important part of how tables and variables work. Did you know that constants have databases too?  Read more...

This article shows four ways you can use when installing missing R packages for Microsoft R Services.  Read more...

Although it is common to group by periods such as Week, Month, or Quarter, sometimes alternative periods are needed. This simple technique lets you split a year into periods with any number of days.  Read more...

This article shows different options to use the rounding functions in SQL Server.  Read more...

This second part to a previous article on Calendar table generation shows how to create a holiday table containing both fixed-date and variable-date holidays.  Read more...

We've all heard that definitive statement: "Avoid using cursors." But, in my opinion, what really should be conveyed is: "Avoid using row-by-row operations when possible."  Read more...

Learn how to approach performance tuning in this piece from SQL Server MCM and MVP, Gail Shaw.  Read more...

This article talks about using the the positive aspects of setting up R in enterprise environment and give instructions on first steps how to do it.  Read more...

Setting ANSI_WARNINGS OFF to avoid NULL value elimination warnings can have an impact on the data quality and system behaviour.  Read more...

A second part to the series by Mickey Stuewe on writing better T-SQL looks at some of the issues of using views in a complex query.  Read more...

Tim Smith shows how you can use PowerShell to automate a simple comparison of objects such as stored procedures, views, and fucntions.  Read more...