Throughout the 30 plus years of my career I have listened to techies arguing the speed issue. I understand that for some businesses, this is crucial, but we should not lose sight that speed is not the main concern for every installed copy SQL Server in the world. Speed is important to us here, but data accuracy is far more the big concern. I don't care if a query takes an extra minute or two, just so long as I can depend on the data returned.

None the less, if you are going to have this competition and its purpose is educating the masses, I sure would like to see someone come out with a definitive list of "do's and don'ts" for effectively managing the speed issue. Seems like every time one SQL expert says "this" about speed and efficiency, another comes along and says "No, don't do that, do this..." about speed, and this "round and round" has gone on for years. Can someone step up and just list the 10 (or 20, 30?) "Commandments" for efficient querying?

(And Phil... Sorry, but you're a great writer and talented guy, and I cant let slip that you misspelled your own last name. You are Phil Factor, not Phil Fector... Unless of course we are talking alter-egos... Thanks for the post!)