Muting the Immutable
Phil Factor on dealing with "immutable" domain data during database development and deployment.
2019-08-16 (first published: 2016-01-18)
451 reads
Phil Factor
- Interests: Motorbikes, Beer, gardening, conservation, Local history.
The Sequel to SQL
Phil Factor tacks a few new buzzwords onto his CV and looks forward to joining the new wave of "digital innovators".
2019-08-10
729 reads
Data Transfer Strategies between MongoDB and SQL Server
There are a variety of days to move data between MongoDB and SQL Server. This article covers some of your options and gives you ideas on which method might work best for you.
2019-07-22
14,052 reads
Over-thinking Database Build Scripts
With SQL Server we tend to build databases, when necessary, from one or more build scripts. If making changes to existing versions of the database, we then script the required changes. Usually, a synchronization tool will create a script that can be tweaked to work; although occasionally it will require something more complicated, as when […]
2019-06-29
369 reads
Databases made for Ops, not 'Oops!'
Just as you write a unit test before writing the code, so you must devise the means to monitor a database, to ensure its smooth operation, before creating the database.
2019-06-01
245 reads
The Blast Radius of a database
Phil Factor feels that the database gets the short shrift in any outage - it's time to stop saying "the database has gone down" and time to start thinking about the resilience of the entire system.
2019-05-04
517 reads
Guest editorial: SQL Code Metrics
In which Phil Factor toys with the thought of producing quality metrics for SQL code, before dismissing the idea as foolhardy.
2019-04-30 (first published: 2009-02-17)
669 reads
Why should SQL Server 2019 excite developers?
Phil Factor is excited for SQL Server 2019 and is keen to tell you why.
2019-04-06
703 reads
Microservice Reality
Phil Factor argues that very few processes, even in well-established businesses, mimic the dreamy clarity and autonomy of a microservice.
2019-03-11
181 reads
A Capital Error
It's not the zero'th time Phil Factor has complained about the madness of a binary collation.
2019-02-11
102 reads
Blogs
Announcements from the Microsoft Fabric Community Conference — Barcelona 2026
By James Serra
Microsoft shared a broad set of Fabric, Power BI, and SQL updates at FabCon...
Au Revoir for now
By Steve Jones
No, I’m not quitting or retiring. Just going on vacation, but I leave tonight...
Forums
Let's Talk Certifications
Comments posted to this topic are about the item Let's Talk Certifications, which is...
The Hidden Security Risks of Role Combination in SSAS Tabular
Comments posted to this topic are about the item The Hidden Security Risks of...
The Empty Aggregate
Comments posted to this topic are about the item The Empty Aggregate
Question of the Day
The Empty Aggregate
I have this table in a SQL Server 2025 database:
CREATE TABLE [dbo].[CustomerOrder] ( [OrderID] [int] NULL, [CustomerID] [int] NULL, [total] [money] NULL ) ON [PRIMARY] GOWhat is returned from this code? (answers are for the sum and then the count)
SELECT SUM(total) AS sum,
COUNT(total) AS count
FROM dbo.CustomerOrder;
See possible answers