deployment

Stairway icons Database Deployments

Stairway to Reliable Database Deployments Level 2 - Defining the Deployment Contract

  • Stairway Step

Level 2 formalizes the behavioral guarantees that a changeset must provide in order to be safely deployed and rolled back. It introduces the deployment contract, checkpoint semantics, and the structural scope of Create and Rollback scripts. Data changes are addressed through a dedicated Update mechanism, with clear boundaries and limitations. By the end of this level, a changeset becomes a predictable and well-defined unit that can be reasoned about independently of execution context.

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2026-06-11 (first published: )

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Stairway icons Database Deployments

Designing Database Changes Before Deployment: Level 1 of the Stairway to Reliable Database Deployments

  • Stairway Step

Stairway to Reliable Database Deployments introduces a progressive approach to managing database changes with clear intent, predictable rollback, and explicit behavioral guarantees. Starting from change design and moving toward execution and coordination in complex environments, the Stairway provides a conceptual framework for deploying database changes safely and consistently, independent of specific tools or automation platforms.

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2026-06-11 (first published: )

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External Article

Database Lifecycle Management: Deployment and Release

  • Article

So often, the unexpected delays in delivering database code are more likely to happen after the developers initiate the release process. The necessary checks and tests can turn up surprises: The handover process can expose deficiencies. With good teamwork, planning and forethought, though, the process can be made almost painless.

2016-08-05

4,063 reads

External Article

Database Deployment: The Bits - Agent Jobs and Other Server Objects

  • Article

Databases often need more than just the database objects to run. There may be certain server objects and components, and SQL Agent objects, that are required as well. For an automated deployment, these need to be identified and their build script placed in source control. They then need to be deployed via the pre, or post deployment script. Phil spells out how and why.

2013-05-29

2,424 reads

External Article

Database Deployment Challenges

  • Article

There are a number of challenges that make the deployment task more difficult. Alex reviews the common techniques for deploying new databases and upgrading existing ones, and their flaws, and argues the advantages of an automated, incremental, script-based approach to deployments.

2013-03-18

3,067 reads

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Question of the Day

ORDER BY alias

There is a table tmp_tab: 

CREATE TABLE tmp_tab (
id int,
val int
);
INSERT INTO tmp_tab VALUES
(1, 1),
(2, NULL),
(3, 3),
(4, 4),
(5, 5);
You want to order the rows ids by the following expression: 
    ISNULL(val, id) + 1
Which of the following queries produces the expected ordering and why? (Select all correct)

See possible answers