NOLOCK is bad and you probably shouldn't use it, but every time I mention that publicly, the pushback just keeps coming. I don't know why people so firmly believe that their situation couldn't possibly be affected by bad/random data from NOLOCK.
2026-10-07
You're looking at page split numbers in a monitoring tool or Perfmon, and you've heard that page splits are bad, so you're lowering fill factor, expecting your page splits to go down.
2026-09-30
This article looks at how the parameter sniffing performance problem can be helped in SQL Server 2025 with PSPO.
2026-09-28
2,609 reads
Normally when you're looking at an execution plan, and you see an index seek followed by a key lookup, that means it's running relatively quickly.
2026-09-14
See how SQL Server 2025 uses Optional Parameter Plan Optimization to create separate plans for selective and unfiltered searches, how to verify the dispatcher and variants, and when dynamic SQL or recompilation is still the better choice.
2026-09-14
2,499 reads
2026-09-02
1,037 reads
This article looks at replacing a cursor with a window function to improve performance.
2026-08-03
6,882 reads
You've heard that page splits are bad, and they're an indication that your table design is making your storage work too hard. You've heard that the right answer to fix it is adjusting fill factor lower, or doing regular index maintenance.
2026-08-03
Recognizing queries that might perform poorly is a skill that will help you, and your AI assistant, produce better code in production.
2026-08-03
248 reads
Steve asks if we should focus on the slowest queries or tackle other issues in our systems. Or if we should even have to make these decisions.
2026-07-31
178 reads
By SQLPals
How to Clear the SSMS Cache (SSMS 21 and Later) Updated...
By Arun Sirpal
“What exactly did it do on my server?” is the first question a DBA...
By James Serra
Microsoft shared a broad set of Fabric, Power BI, and SQL updates at FabCon...
Comments posted to this topic are about the item Let's Talk Certifications
Comments posted to this topic are about the item The Hidden Security Risks of...
Comments posted to this topic are about the item 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