Using a Surrogate vs Natural Key
A common debate in table architecture is whether to use a natural or surrogate key. In this article, I discuss some of the advantages to each method.
2019-10-15
12,874 reads
Articles
Database Tools and Extensions for Visual Studio 2019
In this article, you will explore tools and extensions that can be used with Visual Studio 2019 to improve your database experience irrespective of what database you use.
2019-10-15
A User-Defined Function returns more rows
The Problem Recently, while working with one of my clients, I came across a script in which I had to introduce a scalar User-Defined Function in the SELECT statement. The SELECT used to return around 750K records. However, after introducing the UDF, the row count significantly increased to 826K. There were no other changes made […]
2019-10-14
5,114 reads
Building Machine Learning Models to Solve Practical Problems
Machine learning is a skill that many data professionals are learning as they plan their careers over the next five to ten years. In this article, Supriya Pande gives an overview of machine learning and walks through a practical example.
2019-10-14
Capturing the business value of Compliant Database DevOps
You’ve probably heard of Compliant Database DevOps, but to take it from buzzword to boardroom relies on demonstrating value across your business. IT leaders must think more broadly than cost savings and ROI calculations when investing in scaling DevOps across database teams.
Our latest whitepaper explains how to lay the foundations for a successful DevOps implementation, and how to track success against global metrics that demonstrate your team’s impact across the business.
2019-10-14
Moving beyond principal components analysis
Principal components analysis is a standard, but usually terrible, technique for visualising complex data. We're using network diagrams to solve this problem.
2019-10-11 (first published: 2017-09-19)
2,571 reads
Find SQL Server Installation Date for all Instances with PowerShell
In this tip we look at a PowerShell script you can use to gather information about the installation date for all of your SQL Servers.
2019-10-11
Foreign Keys and Multi-Table Inserts in Oracle
Referential constraints ensure data integrity, but in at least one case can cause occasional problems. Read on to see what can happen and why it can occur...
2019-10-11
Free Solution Brief – Dedicated Database Environments for Dev, Test and CI
Developers and testers can be blocked from having a local, private database to work in because of disk space, refresh times, and data privacy. Download this free solution brief to learn how SQL Provision removes these blockers and enables production-like data to be delivered at speed.
2019-10-11
The Basics of INCLUDE
Learn how the INCLUDE phrase of an index can change the performance of a query.
2019-10-10
27,734 reads
Blogs
Reality (And Limits) of Instant File Initialization for Transaction Logs in SQL Server 2022
By SQLPals
Reality (And Limits) of Instant File Initialization for Transaction Logs in SQL Server 2022 ...
Looking Back at the Redgate 2026 Company Kickoff
By Steve Jones
Last week I spent a few days in Cambridge, UK for the Redgate Company...
PASS Data Community Summit 2025 Recap
By alevyinroc
This is long overdue but life and distractions happened. It’s been a little over...
Forums
Adding and Dropping Columns II
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Leveraging DuckDB for OLAP Workloads: The Fabric Modern Data Platform
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More Documentation is Needed
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Question of the Day
Adding and Dropping Columns II
I have this table in my SQL Server 2022 database:
CREATE TABLE [dbo].[CityList] ( [CityNameID] [int] NOT NULL IDENTITY(1, 1), [CityName] [varchar] (30) , [Country2] [char] (3), [stateprovince2] [char] (2), [Country] [char] (3), [stateprovince] [char] ) ON [PRIMARY] GOI decide to drop the stateprovince2 and country2 columns. What code should I use? See possible answers