SQL Server Management Studio keeps adding features, but unless you look you probably don’t notice. In this article, we look at the new Query Hint Recommendation Tool in SSMS 2022 and how this can be used.
2026-03-18
LinkedIn is full of absolute trash these days. Just flat out b****** garbage. (Oh yeah, that – this post should probably come with a language disclaimer, because this stuff makes me mad.)
2026-03-16
SSMS 22 has several new features. Is there a compilation list of the new features? How will these features help me as a SQL Server professional?
2026-03-13
Data fabric, data lakehouse, and data mesh have recently appeared as viable alternatives to the modern data warehouse. These new architectures have solid benefits, but they're also surrounded by a lot of hyperbole and confusion. This practical book provides a guided tour of these architectures to help data professionals understand the pros and cons of each.
2026-03-11 (first published: 2024-02-29)
6,238 reads
rogrammatic interaction with SQL Server or Azure SQL from a Python script is possible using a driver. A popular driver has been pyodbc that can be used standalone or with a SQLAlchemy wrapper. SQLAlchemy on its own is the Python SQL toolkit and Object Relational Mapper for developers. In the end of 2025 Microsoft released v1 of their own Python SQL driver called mssql-python. How do you get started using mssql-python for programmatic access to your SQL Server?
2026-03-11
Monitoring and alerting can be overwhelming tasks, especially for those new to the world of managing production data. One common challenge for any data professional is the identification and management of queries that run for longer than they should.
2026-03-09
I know a lot of y’all lag behind on upgrading SSMS, but v22.3 just introduced something that you need to be aware of. It’s going to impact any of your users who DO upgrade their SSMS, or who use Github Copilot. There’s something that you can do in order to improve Copilot’s code quality and make it match your preferred coding standards.
2026-03-06
This tip demonstrates how find and list allf duplicate rows in a dataset using a Common Table Expression (CTE).
2026-03-04
Four years ago I wrote a blog on this site explaining why Python is better than C# and, arguably, most other programming languages. To redress the balance, here are 10 reasons why you might want to avoid getting caught up in Python’s oh-so-tempting coils – particularly when building large, long-lived systems.
2026-03-02
Beginning with SQL Server Management Studio 21, Microsoft stopped providing the direct download package/binaries to install SSMS, instead it just downloads the SSMS installer. This installer then starts the installation of SSMS and downloads what is needed to install SSMS. Sometimes there may be a need to do an offline installation where you do not have access to the internet. In this article, we walk through the steps to do an offline install of SSMS.
2026-02-27
By Steve Jones
Finding duplicates was an interview question for me years ago, and I’ve never forgotten...
By HeyMo0sh
Over time, I’ve realised that one of the hardest parts of cloud management isn’t...
By HeyMo0sh
One of the biggest challenges I’ve faced in cloud operations is maintaining clear visibility...
Comments posted to this topic are about the item Fun with JSON II
Comments posted to this topic are about the item Changing Data Types
Comments posted to this topic are about the item Answering Questions On Dropped Columns
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 t1.[key] AS row,
t2.*
FROM OPENJSON(
(
SELECT t.* FROM #test_data AS t FOR JSON PATH
)
) t1
CROSS APPLY OPENJSON(t1.value) t2; See possible answers