Articles

Technical Article

Azure Data Lakes

The Data-lake is basically a large repository of data for 'big data' analytic workloads, held in its original format. The Azure Data Lake adds Data Lake Analytics, and Azure HDInsight. Although the tools are there for Big Data Analysis, it will require new skills to use, and a heightened attention to Data Governance if it is to appeal to the average enterprise. Rob Sheldon takes a look.

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2015-12-21

3,485 reads

SQLServerCentral Article

Cursor-Killing: Accessing Data in the Next Row

Cursors are considered by many to be the bane of good T-SQL. What are the best ways to avoid iterative T-SQL and to write queries that look and perform beautifully? This first part in an ongoing series of cursor-killing handles inter-row analysis.

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2015-12-18 (first published: )

22,681 reads

External Article

Jodie Beay and the Production Database Drift

You make an example database, like NorthWind or WidgetDev in order to test out your deployment system and the next thing you know you're worrying about constraints, backup and security. Then you add an index to the production system and feel a pang of guilt. What would the Devs say? Somehow databases take on lives of their own, populated by the lost souls of users, Developers and DBAs. Has the Redgate DLM Team's practice Forex database somehow come alive?

2015-12-18

3,479 reads

External Article

Declarative SQL: Using UNIQUE Constraints

In SQL, you can express the logic of what you want to accomplish without spelling out the details of how the database should do it. Nowhere is this more powerful than in constraints. In this introduction to Declarative SQL, Joe Celko demonstrates how you can write portable code that performs well and executes some complex logic, merely by creating unique constraints.

2015-12-15

6,149 reads

External Article

Exploration of SQL Server 2016 Always Encrypted – Part 1

With the introduction of SQL Server 2016 you now have a new way to encrypt columns called Always Encrypted. With Always Encrypted, data is encrypted at the application layer via ADO.NET. This means you can encrypt your confidential data with your .NET application prior to the data being sent across the network to SQL Server. In this article, Greg Larson explains his experience with exploring setting up a table that stores always encrypted data.

2015-12-14

3,661 reads

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Question of the Day

Fun with JSON I

I have some data in a table:

CREATE TABLE #test_data
(
    id INT PRIMARY KEY,
    name VARCHAR(100),
    birth_date DATE
);

-- Step 2: Insert rows  
INSERT INTO #test_data
VALUES
(1, 'Olivia', '2025-01-05'),
(2, 'Emma', '2025-03-02'),
(3, 'Liam', '2025-11-15'),
(4, 'Noah', '2025-12-22');
If I run this query, how many rows are returned?
SELECT *
FROM OPENJSON(
     (
         SELECT t.* FROM #test_data AS t FOR JSON PATH
     )
             ) t;

See possible answers