vliet (10/10/2013)
Most of you are asking for readable SQL and good example data. But how often can you transform real problems into such an academic setting? More often than not, bad performance or unexpected results come from some task, stored procedure or script you've inherited using a database scheme that is almost unbearable to look at. I know one should not use cursors unless blah blah blah, but if I need to fix some very complex stored procedure with nested cursors I do not want to rebuild it from scratch. English is also not my first language but that should not keep one from posting.Not every company can affort a DBA. Developers that have to perform design and maintenance on databases did not always choose to do so. SQL is unlike any other programming language, because it is dealing with sets instead of items. That is a very hard thing to understand properly when your daily business covers only objects. Please give them some credits ...
That said, I should also state that this site is (together with Stack Overflow) the best forum I know, and the first to search when you're dealing with any SQL-related problem. Please keep up the good work!
With English not being your first language, you do remarkably well. I know plenty of native English speakers who are not as good as you. I do not speak a second language. I am impressed by those who do.
I always try to give others the benefit of the doubt because I do not know where they are from. Also, there may be some medical reason for misspelling and poor grammar.
Manners are important in all settings.
And who knew "The Thread" would still be going strong after this long?