Increasing deadlocks with NoLock
One of my personal pet issues is with inappropriate use of the NOLOCK hint (and read uncommitted) . Don't get me...
2010-04-23
746 reads
Dave Ballantyne
Cross Apply Ambiguity
Cross apply (and outer apply) are a very welcome addition to the TSQL language. However, today after a few hours...
2010-03-26
1,921 reads
Output = MAXDOP 1
It is widely know that data modifications on table variables do not support parallelism, Peter Larsson has a good example...
2010-03-04
558 reads
Cleaning up sys.dm_exec_cached_plans
Following on from my previous post in which I noticed that SQLServer itself was artificially bloating sys.dm_exec_cached_plans, the next obvious...
2010-01-27
1,123 reads
Microsoft – Follow best practices – Part 2
In addition to my previous post, another best practice is to not use NOLOCK and READ UNCOMMITTED transaction isolation level.
Here’s...
2010-01-25
546 reads
Microsoft – Follow best practices!
Best practice is to use parametrized queries to enable plan reuse. Will someone please tell Microsoft this.
Presently dm_exec_cached_plans on...
2010-01-22
1,011 reads
Age calculation with SQL Server
There seem to be many different methods being suggested to calculate an age in SQLServer. Some are quite complex but...
2009-12-08
1,130 reads
Phil Factor Speed Phreak SQL Challenge Number 3
The latest Phil Factor challenge is now active here . The prize has now been increased to $100...(read more)
2009-12-04
428 reads
My first useful powershell script – capturing performance counters
After playing around with powershell a bit, I managed to do something quite useful. There are a multitude of ways...
2009-11-30
1,765 reads
Blogs
PowerPoint to HTML with Claude AI
By Steve Jones
I had an idea for an animated view of a sales tool, and started...
Don’t Miss Out – SQL Server Query Tuning Fundamentals Starts Next Monday!
Next Monday, February 9, 2026, my one-day live online training SQL Server Query Tuning...
Monday Monitor Tips: SQL Auditing Preview
By Steve Jones
One of the features we advocates have been advocating for is a better way...
Forums
Form W-4 Updates 2026: What Employers and Employees Need to Know
Keeping up with Form W-4 updates doesn’t have to be complicated. In this practical...
Level 28: DAX Text Functions: The DAX Extract & Modify Functions: LEFT(), RIGHT(), MID(), REPLACE(), SUBSTITUTE()
Comments posted to this topic are about the item Level 28: DAX Text Functions:...
Creating JSON I
Comments posted to this topic are about the item Creating JSON I
Question of the Day
Creating JSON I
On SQL Server 2025, what happens when I run this code:
SELECT JSON_OBJECTAGG( 'City':'Denver') GOSee possible answers