The Code Freeze

Today Steve discusses code freezes, those times when you don't allow changes to be made by developers.

Database Feature Toggles

In software development the concept of feature toggles are used to selectively turn on and off features. They are, for example, used to restrict some newly introduced features to a select group to see how these features work. While this concept has been long used for user-facing application code, it is also a practice that is useful for database code.

Re-platforming

Sometimes you need to completely change your software, perhaps on a new platform. Steve has a few thoughts on this drastic action.

The Art of the Code Review

Code reviews are a good way to not only improve your quality, but also raise the skill level of your staff.

Free SQL Server

There are a number of ways to run SQL Server for free (or low cost) for development. Read a bit about how to do this.

Un-Stable Teams

At Redgate, the teams change every year and Steve has a few reasons why this is good.

Django's ORM vs. Raw SQL: When to Use Which

When it comes to building websites, how you work with your database can make a huge difference in how well your site runs. That's especially true if you're using Django, a popular tool for making websites with Python. Django comes with something called an Object-Relational Mapping (ORM) layer, which is a fancy way of saying […]

Take A Vote and Accept Your Loss

Learning to make decisions and then get work done is important to Steve. Read his thoughts today on many of the decisions software teams need to make.

Fixing Poor Programming Practices

Today Steve has a few stories of how he's fixed poor programming practices and asks you to share your own.

Five database DevOps practices for boosting team productivity

Speed of delivery and protecting data can often feel incompatible, but there are industry-proven database DevOps practices that bring them together in harmony.

Across each of these five key practices, there’s a theme of removing barriers and cognitive load for teams; but crucially, they are also putting safeguards in place to reduce the risks to production environments.