Find Duplicate Rows in SQL Server with a CTE
This tip demonstrates how find and list allf duplicate rows in a dataset using a Common Table Expression (CTE).
Detecting Issues
How do you detect issues in your systems? Testing? Monitoring? Steve Jones has a few thoughts that we should find ways to do so before our customers.
Guarding Against SQL Injection at the Database Layer (SQL Server)
This article presents a way to check and validate input before using it in your dynamic SQL queries to prevent SQL Injection problems.
Python is good, but not perfect – here are 10 reasons to avoid it
Four years ago I wrote a blog on this site explaining why Python is better than C# and, arguably, most other programming languages. To redress the balance, here are 10 reasons why you might want to avoid getting caught up in Python’s oh-so-tempting coils – particularly when building large, long-lived systems.
Designing SQL Server Pipelines That Are Ready for AI Before You Actually Need AI
Introduction. Why AI Readiness Starts in the Database You probably don’t need machine learning today. Most organizations don’t. You already have reporting dashboards, operational workflows, and business intelligence that work just fine without neural networks or predictive models. That’s not a failure. It’s normal. The problem doesn’t show up immediately. It shows up a few […]
Having a Little Fun at SQL Server Central
Steve reminisces on some of the fun times he's had at SQL Server Central.
SSMS 22 Offline Installation
Beginning with SQL Server Management Studio 21, Microsoft stopped providing the direct download package/binaries to install SSMS, instead it just downloads the SSMS installer. This installer then starts the installation of SSMS and downloads what is needed to install SSMS. Sometimes there may be a need to do an offline installation where you do not have access to the internet. In this article, we walk through the steps to do an offline install of SSMS.
Remotely Engineer Fabric Lakehouse objects: The Fabric Modern Data Platform
In this next installments of the Modern Fabric Data Warehouse, we look at tools for developers.
SQL Server 2025 CREATE EXTERNAL MODEL and AI_GENERATE_EMBEDDINGS Commands Explained
Now that SQL Server 2025 has finally been released to the public, I was finally able to test and learn a lot about this command (named CREATE EXTERNAL MODEL), and I want to share my knowledge with you here. If you’re new to the world of AI, don’t worry, we’ll start with the basics and evolve to where this command fits in!
Blogs
Advice I Like: Responsibility
By Steve Jones
“The foundation of maturity: Just because it’s not your fault doesn’t mean it’s not...
Power BI Performance in 2026: A Practical Guide to Faster Semantic Models and Reports
By James Serra
Originally published April 2022; substantially updated July 2026. This post is a complete replacement...
Getting Started with Azure SQL Developer on Macbook
The idea behind Azure SQL Developer is for anyone to build, iterate, and test...
Forums
Migration Challenge: Excessive FULLSCAN Statistics Update Duration Blocking SQL
Hello everyone , I am planning to migrate a database from SQL Server 2014...
SQL Agent Job Automated Change Capture Process
Comments posted to this topic are about the item SQL Agent Job Automated Change...
Another Model, More Data Loss
Comments posted to this topic are about the item Another Model, More Data Loss
Question of the Day
Finding a Database Master Key
Where do I check for the existence of a Database Master Key (DMK) in SQL Server 2025?
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