Azure Data Lake Analytics using U-SQL Queries
This article will help with gaining confidence and familiarity with Microsoft Azure's Data Lake Analytics offering to process large datasets quickly while demonstrating the potential and capabilities of U-SQL to aggregate and process big data files.
How Perfect Should Our Software Be?
Steve talks about the level of engineering effort we need in software development.
Learning about DML Triggers
Triggers can be confusing and complex for many developers new to SQL. Steve Jones gives a few ideas for learning more about this construct as well as practicing writing them.
GDPR - A guide for the perplexed
If a picture paints a thousand words then can GDPR regulation be represented in diagram form? Could doing so make it easier to comply with the regulation by making it easier to understand?
We Want Maturity, But Is It Fun?
Today we have a guest editorial from Andy Warren as Steve is away on vacation. This was originally published on Dec 23, 2014. I was reflecting recently on my first real IT job. It was a small-ish company when I joined it, perhaps a hundred employees or so, and still using a mishmash of software […]
You Need Offline Backups
Steve talks about the need to be careful with backups in this age of malicious attackers.
Using the DAX Calculate and Values Functions
In the first two articles in this series on creating DAX formulae, Andy Brown of Wise Owl Training showed how to create calculated columns and measures. In this third article, he turns his attention to two of the most important DAX functions (CALCULATE and VALUES), showing how and when to use them. If DAX knowledge can be compared to a heavily fortified castle, the CALCULATE function is the drawbridge giving access to it.
Blogs
A New Word: los vidados
By Steve Jones
los vidados – n. the half-remembered acquaintances you knew years ago, who you might...
In-Person CISA Training – April 13-16, 2026
By Brian Kelley
I will be leading an in-person Certified Information Systems Auditor (CISA) exam prep class...
EightKB 2026
EightKB is back again for 2026! The biggest online SQL Server internals conference is...
Forums
Vectors in SQL Server 2025
Comments posted to this topic are about the item Vectors in SQL Server 2025
Odd Sequences
Comments posted to this topic are about the item Odd Sequences
Everything is the right question away
Comments posted to this topic are about the item Everything is the right question...
Question of the Day
Odd Sequences
What values are returned from this code?
CREATE SEQUENCE NumericSequence
AS NUMERIC(5,1)
START WITH 1.0
INCREMENT BY 0.1;
GO
SELECT NEXT VALUE FOR NumericSequence
GO
SELECT NEXT VALUE FOR NumericSequence
GO See possible answers