Are the posted questions getting worse?

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Are the posted questions getting worse?

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drew.allen SSC Guru Points: 77014 More actions · Answer 1

Jeff Moden - Thursday, September 13, 2018 11:57 AM
But it's fast, right? :D:D:D

It took almost 16 minutes to copy about 80K records from one database to another on the same server, so at least it's faster than molasses in January. There are no major transformations, no aggregations, just a simple copy with the aforementioned lookups into the EAV tables.

Drew

J. Drew Allen
Business Intelligence Analyst
Philadelphia, PA

Michael L John One Orange Chip Points: 27079 More actions · Answer 2

drew.allen - Thursday, September 13, 2018 2:32 PM
It took almost 16 minutes to copy about 80K records from one database to another on the same server, so at least it's faster than molasses in January. There are no major transformations, no aggregations, just a simple copy with the aforementioned lookups into the EAV tables.
Drew

I just deployed a 14000 line update statement. The code needed to update a project code, which is some strange alpha-numeric string that is generated. We needed to take the first 2 characters, insert a !, and add another character at the end.
Maybe a 10 line case statement would have done it.
The developer did a select *, copied all 14 K records into a spreadsheet, and manually added the chars in the right place.
He then copied and pasted that into a query window, and added the update...set...where to all 14k lines.

This is a senior level person who has been in IT for 30 years.

Michael L John
If you assassinate a DBA, would you pull a trigger?
To properly post on a forum:
http://www.sqlservercentral.com/articles/61537/

Jeff Moden SSC Guru Points: 1004638 More actions · Answer 3

Sean Lange - Thursday, September 13, 2018 1:25 PM
ZZartin - Thursday, September 13, 2018 12:10 PM
Jeff Moden - Thursday, September 13, 2018 8:23 AM
Shifting gears to TRY/CATCH, I think that the way a lot of people use it is wrong, especially in the presence of SET XACT_ABORT ON. Might be worth an article someday.
The biggest problem i see people doing with TRY/CATCH and this isn't just in SQL Server is that people use it to do exactly what the guy in that post was doing. No attempt at pre parsing or correcting errors, just throw a bunch of stuff into it and see if it sticks. Which isn't so much an issue with TRY/CATCH itself, used properly it's very powerful and useful, it just enables some very lazy design practices.
Far too often it gets turned into a TRY/SQUELCH instead. They use crappy code to swallow errors.

Guess I don't need to follow up much because the words, TRY/SQUELCH describe the problem perfectly. It's usually better to just SET XACT_ABORT ON and let SQL Server report the errors like it always has.

--Jeff Moden

RBAR is pronounced "ree-bar" and is a "Modenism" for Row-By-Agonizing-Row.
First step towards the paradigm shift of writing Set Based code:
________Stop thinking about what you want to do to a ROW... think, instead, of what you want to do to a COLUMN.

Change is inevitable... Change for the better is not.

Helpful Links:
How to post code problems
How to Post Performance Problems
Create a Tally Function (fnTally)

Jeff Moden SSC Guru Points: 1004638 More actions · Answer 4

Michael L John - Thursday, September 13, 2018 2:42 PM
I just deployed a 14000 line update statement. The code needed to update a project code, which is some strange alpha-numeric string that is generated. We needed to take the first 2 characters, insert a !, and add another character at the end.
Maybe a 10 line case statement would have done it.
The developer did a select *, copied all 14 K records into a spreadsheet, and manually added the chars in the right place.
He then copied and pasted that into a query window, and added the update...set...where to all 14k lines.
This is a senior level person who has been in IT for 30 years.

Heh... must be one of those people that think that "Just because you can do something in SQL Server, doesn't mean you should". :D:D:D

--Jeff Moden

RBAR is pronounced "ree-bar" and is a "Modenism" for Row-By-Agonizing-Row.
First step towards the paradigm shift of writing Set Based code:
________Stop thinking about what you want to do to a ROW... think, instead, of what you want to do to a COLUMN.

Change is inevitable... Change for the better is not.

Helpful Links:
How to post code problems
How to Post Performance Problems
Create a Tally Function (fnTally)

Jeff Moden SSC Guru Points: 1004638 More actions · Answer 5

drew.allen - Thursday, September 13, 2018 2:32 PM
Jeff Moden - Thursday, September 13, 2018 11:57 AM
drew.allen - Thursday, September 13, 2018 11:44 AM
OMG. I'm working on a stored procedure that references an EAV table and it has 73 separate subqueries in a single SELECT statement to pull values out of the EAV table. And that's only the most egregious example. It also references a couple of other EAV tables.
Drew
But it's fast, right? :D:D:D
It took almost 16 minutes to copy about 80K records from one database to another on the same server, so at least it's faster than molasses in January. There are no major transformations, no aggregations, just a simple copy with the aforementioned lookups into the EAV tables.
Drew

See? Told ya it was fast. :D:D:D

--Jeff Moden

RBAR is pronounced "ree-bar" and is a "Modenism" for Row-By-Agonizing-Row.
First step towards the paradigm shift of writing Set Based code:
________Stop thinking about what you want to do to a ROW... think, instead, of what you want to do to a COLUMN.

Change is inevitable... Change for the better is not.

Helpful Links:
How to post code problems
How to Post Performance Problems
Create a Tally Function (fnTally)

Sergiy SSC Guru Points: 110209 More actions · Answer 6

andycadley - Thursday, September 13, 2018 12:53 AM
There is clearly still a long road to go before people default to learning the basics of structured programming before hacking the living daylights out of process flow with gotos.

Nah, there is no any road ahead.
Educated staff always costs more, and management always opt for a cheaper option.
They don't know much about structured programming, so the only criteria for them is the rate.

And you know what?
For a normal manager having 3 lousy develpers is better than one highly advanced.
It's in their rule book.

_____________
Code for TallyGenerator

Sergiy SSC Guru Points: 110209 More actions · Answer 7

ZZartin - Thursday, September 13, 2018 12:10 PM
Jeff Moden - Thursday, September 13, 2018 8:23 AM
Shifting gears to TRY/CATCH, I think that the way a lot of people use it is wrong, especially in the presence of SET XACT_ABORT ON. Might be worth an article someday.
The biggest problem i see people doing with TRY/CATCH and this isn't just in SQL Server is that people use it to do exactly what the guy in that post was doing. No attempt at pre parsing or correcting errors, just throw a bunch of stuff into it and see if it sticks. Which isn't so much an issue with TRY/CATCH itself, used properly it's very powerful and useful, it just enables some very lazy design practices.

It's eqally true about pretty much every new feature in SQL Server introduces since 2005.
They all are meant to make life easier for those who are not good with relational databases, paving the way for most horrible database solutions.
P.S.
When I saw "IIF" function I knew - it's the final nail onto the coffin of SQL Server.

_____________
Code for TallyGenerator

Brandie Tarvin SSC Guru Points: 173108 More actions · Answer 8

Sergiy - Wednesday, September 12, 2018 7:50 PM
Brandie Tarvin - Wednesday, September 12, 2018 8:53 AM
jasona.work - Wednesday, September 12, 2018 8:44 AM
One of these days, I'm going to break down and try JD...
Just to see what all the fuss is about (I don't drink so...)
If you don't drink because, like me, you don't like the taste of alcohol, don't bother. It's nothing much.
If you don't drink because of other reasons, then maybe you will like the taste of it. @=)
Taste of alcohol hugely depends on perception.
As they say, to pessimists cognac smells like bedbugs, to optimists bedbugs smell like cognac.

Alcohol literally tastes like poison to me, mostly. I can occasionally drink something fruity if it has maybe half or less of the usual amount of alcohol (like a mixed drink). But if it has more than that, I can't get past one sip.

EDIT: Clarification. Sometimes I like a shot of sweet sake, plum wine, pear port, or ice wine. But I can't drink more than that because then my tongue starts noticing the burn.

Brandie Tarvin, MCITP Database AdministratorLiveJournal Blog: http://brandietarvin.livejournal.com/[/url]On LinkedIn!, Google+, and Twitter.Freelance Writer: ShadowrunLatchkeys: Nevermore, Latchkeys: The Bootleg War, and Latchkeys: Roscoes in the Night are now available on Nook and Kindle.

Brandie Tarvin SSC Guru Points: 173108 More actions · Answer 9

Michael L John - Thursday, September 13, 2018 2:42 PM
I just deployed a 14000 line update statement. The code needed to update a project code, which is some strange alpha-numeric string that is generated. We needed to take the first 2 characters, insert a !, and add another character at the end.
Maybe a 10 line case statement would have done it.
The developer did a select *, copied all 14 K records into a spreadsheet, and manually added the chars in the right place.
He then copied and pasted that into a query window, and added the update...set...where to all 14k lines.
This is a senior level person who has been in IT for 30 years.

Quit lookin' at my code!

@=)

Actually, that sounds like someone who grew up working on the old database software and just hasn't gotten out of the habit as relational databases evolved.

Brandie Tarvin, MCITP Database AdministratorLiveJournal Blog: http://brandietarvin.livejournal.com/[/url]On LinkedIn!, Google+, and Twitter.Freelance Writer: ShadowrunLatchkeys: Nevermore, Latchkeys: The Bootleg War, and Latchkeys: Roscoes in the Night are now available on Nook and Kindle.

Phil Parkin SSC Guru Points: 247180 More actions · Answer 10

I think we need to add some balance here. I like drinking beer, and lots of it.
Luckily, today is Friday and I will get the chance to assuage my thirst.

Neil Burton SSC-Insane Points: 23102 More actions · Answer 11

Phil Parkin - Friday, September 14, 2018 5:16 AM
I think we need to add some balance here. I like drinking beer, and lots of it.
Luckily, today is Friday and I will get the chance to assuage my thirst.

I've got some nice Italian red wine in the car for tonight.

Tomorrow's a beer day. We're off to a local music festival and they have their own ales brewed for the weekend. It's a shame the weather's not looking great. I suppose if it's too bad we can go and hide in the pub.

On two occasions I have been asked, "Pray, Mr. Babbage, if you put into the machine wrong figures, will the right answers come out?" ... I am not able rightly to apprehend the kind of confusion of ideas that could provoke such a question.
—Charles Babbage, Passages from the Life of a Philosopher

How to post a question to get the most help http://www.sqlservercentral.com/articles/Best+Practices/61537

Phil Parkin SSC Guru Points: 247180 More actions · Answer 12

Neil Burton - Friday, September 14, 2018 5:23 AM
Phil Parkin - Friday, September 14, 2018 5:16 AM
I think we need to add some balance here. I like drinking beer, and lots of it.
Luckily, today is Friday and I will get the chance to assuage my thirst.
I've got some nice Italian red wine in the car for tonight.
Tomorrow's a beer day. We're off to a local music festival and they have their own ales brewed for the weekend. It's a shame the weather's not looking great. I suppose if it's too bad we can go and hide in the pub.

'Hiding' in the pub while it's wazzing down outside is actually rather a pleasant pastime. The incessant rain removes some of the guilt sometimes associated with remaining largely immobile and slumped against the bar for seven or eight hours: "We can't go out in this! Whose round is it, anyway?"

DinoRS SSCrazy Points: 2683 More actions · Answer 13

Sergiy - Thursday, September 13, 2018 10:56 PM
It's eqally true about pretty much every new feature in SQL Server introduces since 2005.
They all are meant to make life easier for those who are not good with relational databases, paving the way for most horrible database solutions.
P.S.
When I saw "IIF" function I knew - it's the final nail onto the coffin of SQL Server.

I agree, we should all default to REVERSE STRING RIGHT again, and before I could carry on to rant about this, I'll leave it as it stands. Probably you have never seen any use for geospatial data either.

Sean Lange SSC Guru Points: 286609 More actions · Answer 14

Phil Parkin - Friday, September 14, 2018 5:16 AM
I think we need to add some balance here. I like drinking beer, and lots of it.
Luckily, today is Friday and I will get the chance to assuage my thirst.

I'm right there with you Phil. Luckily my band is playing a gig tonight so plenty of beers are in my future.

_______________________________________________________________

Need help? Help us help you.

Read the article at http://www.sqlservercentral.com/articles/Best+Practices/61537/ for best practices on asking questions.

Need to split a string? Try Jeff Modens splitter http://www.sqlservercentral.com/articles/Tally+Table/72993/.

Cross Tabs and Pivots, Part 1 – Converting Rows to Columns - http://www.sqlservercentral.com/articles/T-SQL/63681/
Cross Tabs and Pivots, Part 2 - Dynamic Cross Tabs - http://www.sqlservercentral.com/articles/Crosstab/65048/
Understanding and Using APPLY (Part 1) - http://www.sqlservercentral.com/articles/APPLY/69953/
Understanding and Using APPLY (Part 2) - http://www.sqlservercentral.com/articles/APPLY/69954/

Sergiy SSC Guru Points: 110209 More actions · Answer 15

DinoRS - Friday, September 14, 2018 5:39 AM
Probably you have never seen any use for geospatial data either.

Name it.

_____________
Code for TallyGenerator