Don’t use DISTINCT as a “join-fixer”

I’ve quietly resolved performance issues by re-writing slow queries to avoid DISTINCT. Often, the DISTINCT is there only to serve as a “join-fixer,” and I can explain what that means using an example.

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.

A rose by any other name would not be a rose

William Shakespeare once wrote in the play Romeo and Juliet: “What's in a name? That which we call a rose, by any other word would smell as sweet.” It is a beautiful sentiment in that context, and even still you might say that there is some truth to this saying in a lot of ways.  […]

Trigger the Execution of an ADF Pipeline from an Email

Learn how you can configure an Azure Data Factory pipeline that is triggered by an email being sent to an address.

When Work Isn't Done

Today Steve looks at the case when one software developer finishes their work, but another doesn't. The challenge of reordering work is something that happens more and more as teams struggle to coordinate their efforts.

SQL Server Fragmentation Impact with Modern Hardware

Read this article to find out if you still need to worry about SQL Server index fragmentation with modern hardware.

Not Useless Features

There are some useless features in SQL Server, but Steve Jones wants to know which ones aren't and need investment.

SQL Server Central Is Upgrading Our Servers

The SQL Server Central database servers are being upgraded on Thursday, Nov 2.

Using Pipeline Return Value in Azure Data Factory and Azure Synapse Analytics

Learn how you can return data from one ADF pipeline for use in another.

Normalize strings to optimize space and searches

While this article is specifically geared to SQL Server, the concepts apply to any relational database platform. The Stack Exchange network logs a lot of web traffic – even compressed, we average well over a terabyte per month.