That's what alter table drop column if exists does.

SQL in a Nutshell from O'Reilly from Kevin Kline is also good

Nothing stands  out, but that's a lot of code, and not formatted (code button in the edit box).

However, is this running? Do you  have open transactions? Depending on data sizes,...

I'll say that I don't mind vendor talks, as long as they're presented as such. I also think lots of vendor employees have deep technical knowledge and share that without...

Love to see this.

My former partner used to say that something had to be 20% better to consider a switch. That has stuck with me a long time as a metric. Is something...

I think Imposter Syndrome is a good driver, and has been for me.

However, it can be crippling, it can lead people to shy away from and avoid taking chances on...

I think Imposter Syndrome is a good driver, and has been for me.

However, it can be crippling, it can lead people to shy away from and avoid taking chances on...

Thank you for this article, Steve. I suffer from impostor's syndrome. There are definite times I've felt inadequate. In fact, impostor's syndrome has prevented me from applying for more...

Great quote.

My condolences as well

There are some procs for working with XML. likely to want to load the XML into a variable, then have 3 queries for your specific variables that parse out the...

There might be better ways, but I think Phil's solution looks good. Easy to enhance as well.

I had a SQL Server 2000 system that got to 25k transactions/sec when we turned on the intranet. The intranet was too slow that day, and I told them that...

Some hotels might have both, as descriptions sometimes change, but for purposes of infrastructure (electrical, plumbing, etc.)  they often serialize or ID things. However, if there's only one, often it's...

I think a big part of the problem is management and not holding people accountable. However, there is also personal responsibility and professionalism, which can be lacking.