Vector Search in SQL Server 2025: Storing Embeddings, Querying Them, and What to Watch Out For
This article shows how you can generate embeddings in SQL Server 2025, store them, and use them in your queries.
Microsoft are retiring role-based certifications. Here’s why they shouldn’t
In this Simple Talk opinion piece, Microsoft certification veteran Dr Greg Low considers – and shares his thoughts on – the recent announcement that many role-based Microsoft certifications are being retired.
The Data Model Matters
Is a data model important in modern software? Steve thinks it is and gives a few reasons why we might want to spend a little time on ensuring we have good models as we build software.
Understanding SQL Server PARTITION BY with Examples
Introduction When developers first learn SQL aggregation, they usually start with the GROUP BY clause. It works well for summary reports because it combines multiple rows into a single result for each group. For example, you can calculate total sales per region or average salary per department. The limitation of GROUP BY appears when you […]
Complex Data Processing with dbt Python Models: The Fabric Modern Data Platform
Data build tool (dbt) is an open-source command line tool that helps engineers transform data using SQL scripts. However, there are limitations to what can be done with the Structure Query Language (SQL). That is where dbt Python models can be used to perform complex tasks. A dbt Python model is a function that reads […]
Using Containers to Avoid Installing SQL Server
I got a new laptop recently and instead of installing SQL Server, I decided to try and use containers to see how well this works. This article looks at how I got this working relatively quickly. The short list of things I did is: Install Docker Desktop Create a location for data/logs/etc. Create a docker-compose […]
Fixing Impostor Syndrome
Lessons on impostor syndrome from a marketer apply to technologists as well.
Blogs
Don’t Fear the Technology
By Brian Kelley
The concern that a particular technology is going to destroy the world seems to...
Creating a Custom SQL Server Security Checklist Using the DoD STIG
The STIG is detailed, which is a good thing, but I found myself wanting...
Creating a Local Model Chatbot on Windows
By Steve Jones
After my session at VSLive last week, I had a few questions from the...
Forums
RegEx Functions III
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Optimized Locking in SQL Server 2025: Fewer Locks, Less Blocking, and the Cases It Cannot Fix
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Finely Tuned Models
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Question of the Day
RegEx Functions III
If I run the REGEXP_LIKE() function, does it match values in a case-sensitive fashion, or a case-insensitive fashion by default.
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