Additional Articles


External Article

Storing and Retrieving the Initialization and Configuration Data for Applications

All developers hit the problem of how and where to store and set their configuration, profile, or initial data. A long time ago, it was generally decided that simple text files containing key/values were best, stored with the application. After all, you are relying on being able to entice busy people to get the permanent settings right for their requirements, folks who are generally not interested in your elegant computer science constructs. Not only that, but the settings must be parsed very quickly and efficiently, otherwise a process that uses the tool will slow to a crawl.

2024-10-04

External Article

Bad Data and Dirty Databases

Many years ago, my wife and I wrote an article for Datamation, a major trade publication at the time, under the title, “Don’t Warehouse Dirty Data!” It’s been referenced quite a few times over the decades but is nowhere to be found using Google these days. The point is, if you have written a report using data, you have no doubt felt the pain of dirty data and it is nothing new.

2024-09-27

External Article

EsProc SPL and SQL, Complimentary , But Different Technologies

Have you ever surfed the internet and felt overwhelmed by personalized advertisements that appear to know your every desire? Have you ever been amazed at how accurate some weather forecasts can be? These actions are based on data processing. EsProc SPL and SQL (note, SPL stands for Structured Processing Language and SQL stands for Structured Query Language). SQL is a major language widely encountered and used for data manipulation within relational databases. While EsProc SPL is another effective tool for data processing, especially suited for complex computations and in-memory operations, it is less commonly encountered.

2024-09-23

Blogs

Giving AI Agents Visibility Into SQL Server with MCP

By

I’ve been thinking a lot lately about what it actually takes to make an...

The Book of Redgate: Profits

By

Redgate is a for-profit company. We look to make money by building and selling...

Session Materials for Techorama & DataGrillen 2026

By

I’ve uploaded the slides for my Techorama session Microsoft Fabric for Dummies and my...

Read the latest Blogs

Forums

Stop Prompting Your AI Agent. Give It a Playbook.

By Kumar Abhishek

Comments posted to this topic are about the item Stop Prompting Your AI Agent....

Finish the quote

By Steve Jones - SSC Editor

Comments posted to this topic are about the item Finish the quote

Everything I Needed to Know Used to be Found in One Book

By Kathi Kellenberger

Comments posted to this topic are about the item Everything I Needed to Know...

Visit the forum

Question of the Day

Finish the quote

Finish this quote (for a fun Memorial Day question):

Do not try and bend the spoon. That's impossible. ...

See possible answers