SQL Puzzle 2: Eight Queens
This puzzle was first proposed in 1848 by a composer of chess puzzles called Max Bezzel and has since spawned...
2019-04-26 (first published: 2017-07-19)
2,198 reads
Matthew McGiffen
- Twitter: @MattMcGiffen
- Website: https://matthewmcgiffen.com/
SQL Puzzle 3: Knights and Queens
I thought I’d do another chess puzzle this month. This one is a variant on the Eight Queens problem:
SQL Puzzle...
2019-04-26 (first published: 2017-08-22)
2,309 reads
SQL Puzzle 4: The Beale Papers
I’ve not done a SQL puzzle for a while so thought it was getting overdue…
I set this one for my...
2019-04-26 (first published: 2017-11-08)
1,473 reads
SQL Puzzle 5: Prime Magic
Quite a few of you have read or attempted the previous puzzle SQL Puzzle 1: Magic Squares
As a quick reminder, when...
2019-04-26 (first published: 2017-12-19)
1,649 reads
SQL Server Agent and Daylight Saving time
There was a bit of chat today on the SQL Community slack about UTC and Daylight Saving Time. It reminded...
2019-04-26 (first published: 2017-07-19)
2,545 reads
SQL Server Query Store
Query Store was, probably without doubt, the most anticipated and talked out new feature in SQL 2016. Certainly by the...
2019-04-26 (first published: 2017-03-13)
6,341 reads
Statistics and Cardinality Estimation
Cardinality
This is a term originally from Mathematics, generally defined as “The number of objects in a given set or grouping”....
2019-04-26 (first published: 2017-06-20)
5,800 reads
Statistics and the Ascending Key Problem
I’ve mentioned previously how not having up to date statistics can cause problems in query performance. This post looks at...
2019-04-26 (first published: 2017-07-25)
7,470 reads
Statistics Parser
In the last post we looked at using the STATISTICS IO and STATISTICS TIME commands to measure query performance.
If you’ve...
2019-04-26 (first published: 2017-05-31)
2,309 reads
Table Variable Performance “Fixed” in SQL 2019
Reading the new features for SQL 2019 I spotted this:
One of the most popular posts on my blog last year...
2019-04-26 (first published: 2018-09-25)
2,544 reads
Blogs
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...
SQL Server 2025 CU1 Fixes the Docker Desktop AVX Issue on macOS
Microsoft fixed the AVX instruction issue in SQL Server 2025 CU1. The container now...
Forums
25 Years of SQL Server Central
Comments posted to this topic are about the item 25 Years of SQL Server...
The Decoded Value
Comments posted to this topic are about the item The Decoded Value
Deploying SQL Server Developer Edition in Kubernetes: A Cost-Effective Alternative to RDS
Comments posted to this topic are about the item Deploying SQL Server Developer Edition...
Question of the Day
The Decoded Value
In SQL Server 2025, what is returned from this code:
DECLARE @message VARCHAR(50) = 'Hello SQL Server 2025!'; DECLARE @encoded VARCHAR(MAX); SET @encoded = BASE64_ENCODE(CAST(@message AS VARBINARY(1000))); SELECT BASE64_DECODE(@encoded)See possible answers