Additional Articles

All authors

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

All authors

Blogs

A New Word: Dorgone

By

dorgone– adj. wondering if you could slip away from an event or group conversation...

Tell It Once: Setting Up Claude With Skills and MCP Servers

By

Many of us use AI the same way every single day. Open a tab....

SQL Server Transaction Log Forensics: Preserving Evidence During an Incident

By

SQL Server Transaction Log Forensics: Preserving Evidence During an Incident SQL...

Read the latest Blogs

Forums

Make It Routine

By Steve Jones - SSC Editor

Comments posted to this topic are about the item Make It Routine

Finding Gaps in Sequential Data Using SQL Server

By Imran2629

Comments posted to this topic are about the item Finding Gaps in Sequential Data...

Negative and Positive Numbers

By Steve Jones - SSC Editor

Comments posted to this topic are about the item Negative and Positive Numbers

Visit the forum

Question of the Day

Negative and Positive Numbers

If I want to know whether a number of negative, positive, or zero, what is the easiest way to get this in T-SQL?

See possible answers