T-SQL in SQL Server 2025: Encoding Functions
Learn about these new binary encoding and decoding functions in SQL Server 2025.
2026-01-09
2,042 reads
Steve Jones
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Loading a Database for USD$5
See how Claude Code helped load a lot of messy data into a database for less than $5.
2026-01-05
2,233 reads
T-SQL in SQL Server 2025: The || Operator
I have been working in various computer languages for a long time. When I saw that the || operator was coming, I was a bit confused as to why we needed this, and how it would work. After all, this is a part of other languages. I decided to dig in a bit. This is […]
2025-12-19
8,206 reads
T-SQL in SQL Server 2025: The UNISTR Function
I am not much for working in languages other than English. That's my native language and I know little about others. However, the last few years I find myself using emojis more and more in quick communications as they seem to add some fun to the interaction. And those interactions need to be stored in […]
2025-12-05
284 reads
T-SQL in SQL Server 2025: The PRODUCT Function
Earlier this year at SQL Saturday Austin 2025, Conor Cunningham gave a keynote that discussed the engineering efforts in the Austin office around SQL Server. One of the things he mentioned was PRODUCT(), which was written there and added to SQL Server 2025 to help with the GDP calculation for the US government. Yep, that's […]
2025-11-28
8,201 reads
SQL Server 2016 Build List
A list of all builds for SQL Server 2016. Updated with CU2 for SP2 and CU10 for SP1.
2025-11-24 (first published: 2017-01-25)
41,190 reads
2025-11-24 (first published: 2018-12-18)
9,399 reads
2025-11-24 (first published: 2018-12-20)
13,038 reads
SQL Server 2022 Build List
This is a list of the builds for SQL Server 2022. There are other build lists available here. A list of all the builds that I can find and install on my Build VM. If you find a build not listed here, please let the webmaster know (webmaster at sqlservercentral.com). All builds are listed in reverse […]
2025-11-24 (first published: 2022-09-01)
4,392 reads
SQL Server 2025 Build List
This is a list of the builds for SQL Server 2025. There are other build lists available here. A list of all the builds that I can find and install on my Build VM. If you find a build not listed here, please let the webmaster know (webmaster at sqlservercentral.com). All builds are listed in reverse […]
2025-11-24
166 reads
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Question of the Day
Encoding URLs
I have this data in a SQL Server 2025 table:
CREATE TABLE Response ( ResponseID INT NOT NULL CONSTRAINT ResponsePK PRIMARY KEY , ResponseVal VARBINARY(5000) ) GOIf I want to get a value from this table that I can add to a URL in a browser, which of these code items produces a result I can use? See possible answers