SQLServerCentral Editorial

Potential

We often view potential hires based on their potential and not necessarily on their experience. Today Steve Jones talks about the dangers of putting more emphasis on future, rather than past, performance.

Technical Article

Improve Your Database Unit Testing Skills and Win Free Stuff

As the SQL Developer community grows to embrace the benefits of test-driven development for databases, so the importance of learning to do it properly increases. One way of learning effective TDD is by the use of code kata – short practice sessions that encourage test-first development in baby steps. I have a limited number of licences for SQL Test to give away free – just for practicing a bit of TDD and telling me about it.

External Article

Webinar: Temporary Tables in Oracle and SQL Server

Once again Jonathan Lewis (Oracle Ace Director, OakTable Network) and Grant Fritchey (Microsoft SQL Server MVP) will host a live discussion on Oracle and SQL Server, this time in relation to temporary tables. Will they agree on some common ground? Or will it be an out and out argument? Either way, be prepared for a lively exchange that will not only entertain, but will teach you key concepts on Oracle and SQL Server.

SQLServerCentral Editorial

Software is Like Building a House

One of the really classic analogies in software is that it's like building a house. You have a foundation, multiple teams, lots of contractors that specialize in something, etc. And it's an analogy that's debated as to its relevance over and over. I won't go into the correctness of this analogy, but I wanted to comment on it.

Blogs

Flyway Tips: AI Helps with Commit Messages

By

At Redgate, we’re experimenting with how AI can help developers and DBAs become better...

Startup scripts in SQL Server containers

By

I was messing around performing investigative work on a pod running SQL Server 2025...

Using SQL Compare with Redgate Data Modeler

By

Redgate recently released SQL Compare v16, which included a new feature to work with...

Read the latest Blogs

Forums

Encoding Strings

By Steve Jones - SSC Editor

Comments posted to this topic are about the item Encoding Strings

Deep Learning and Craftsmanship Matter

By Steve Jones - SSC Editor

Comments posted to this topic are about the item Deep Learning and Craftsmanship Matter

Building a Real-Time Analytics Pipeline with Azure Stream Analytics and SQL Server

By AR

Comments posted to this topic are about the item Building a Real-Time Analytics Pipeline...

Visit the forum

Question of the Day

Encoding Strings

I have this code in SQL Server 2025. What is the result? 

DECLARE @message VARCHAR(50) = 'Hello SQL Server 2025!';
DECLARE @encoded VARCHAR(MAX);

SET @encoded = BASE64_ENCODE(@message);
SELECT @encoded AS EncodedResult;

See possible answers