A Tool is Better than a Script
Tools are important to DBAs, but they need to be reliable, both in what they do, and how they work.
2026-05-01
158 reads
Tools for development
Query Hint Recommendation Tool in SSMS 22
SQL Server Management Studio keeps adding features, but unless you look you probably don’t notice. In this article, we look at the new Query Hint Recommendation Tool in SSMS 2022 and how this can be used.
2026-03-18
Getting Started with mssql-python for Data Developers
rogrammatic interaction with SQL Server or Azure SQL from a Python script is possible using a driver. A popular driver has been pyodbc that can be used standalone or with a SQLAlchemy wrapper. SQLAlchemy on its own is the Python SQL toolkit and Object Relational Mapper for developers. In the end of 2025 Microsoft released v1 of their own Python SQL driver called mssql-python. How do you get started using mssql-python for programmatic access to your SQL Server?
2026-03-11
How Well Does the MSSQL Extension in VSCode Work?
A short look at the MSSQL extension for VS Code, getting started with connections and running queries.
2025-09-22
9,335 reads
A First Look at SSMS 21
This isn't really a first look, per se. I've seen Erin Stellato present on this a few times in MVP sessions and at the PASS Data Community Summit. However, this is a look on my machine, where I'm in control. The new version preview was announced recently, and this looks at the new process to […]
2024-11-25
18,800 reads
Using Registered Servers in SSMS
One of the features in SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS) that I find very useful is to have a list of registered servers and databases in SSMS. This lets me quickly pick from a number of servers rather than flipping the drop down in the connection dialog. This post looks at this feature and how […]
2024-07-31
7,339 reads
2024-06-17
16,658 reads
Managing SQL Agent in Azure Data Studio
This article continues my series on ADS and examines the SQL Agent extension.
2024-05-17
2,138 reads
Database Dashboards in Azure Data Studio
Azure Data Studio (ADS) is a lightweight IDE built on Visual Studio Code. I've written a few articles on how the tool works, and this one continues the series. In this article, I want to look at the database dashboards and how you can customize them. The other articles in this series on ADS works […]
2024-05-03
3,323 reads
Exporting and Importing Registered Servers in SSMS
This article shows how to import and export a list of registered servers from SSMS.
2024-04-29
6,273 reads
Blogs
T-SQL Tuesday #199 Invitation: Back to on-prem?
It’s time for T-SQL Tuesday again! And we’re almost to number 200! T-SQL Tuesday...
Data Skew in Data Engineering: What It Is and How to Fix It
You kick off a distributed job expecting it to finish in minutes — but...
Error Deploying GraphQL in Fabric: dm_exec_describe_first_result_set
A while ago we suddenly had an error while trying to deploy one Fabric...
Forums
Secure Cached Plans
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Complex Data Processing with dbt Python Models: The Fabric Modern Data Platform
Comments posted to this topic are about the item Complex Data Processing with dbt...
Over or Under Provisioned
Comments posted to this topic are about the item Over or Under Provisioned
Question of the Day
Secure Cached Plans
The DMV, sys.dm_exec_cached_plans, contains rows for each cached plan on an instance. In Azure SQL Database, not every used has rights to every database, as there does exist an instance behind each database. How is security handled for this DMV in Azure?
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