A Tutorial With the Azure CLI (Command-Line Interface) and Azure SQL Database
In this article, we will show how to install Azure CLI and then create an Azure SQL Server and a SQL Database.
Is Rollback Feasible for Database Changes?
Many of us would like to be sure we could rollback changes made during a deployment if they caused issues. Steve Jones notes that it might not be worth actually building those scripts in advance.
Software Animism
Have you ever accused an application of deliberately trying to make your life a misery? Simple Talk's Tony Davis talks animism in this week's editorial, and wants to hear your stories in the comments for the chance to win a $50 Amazon gift card.
Call for Articles
SQLServerCentral is looking for articles on a few topics. Read more to find out how to submit a draft.
What's Your Smoke Test?
A smoke test can be a good way to ensure complex systems are working as expected after maintenance or changes.
Windows Containers and Docker
Windows Server 2016 features support for containers. These are not Linux-based, but containers that run on Windows and run Windows on the inside. These conform to the Open Container Initiative (OCI). They allow you to run applications insulated from the rest of the system, within portable containers that include everything an application needs to be fully functional. As they did with Linux, containers will change the nature of the software supply chain for Windows users.
Beyond prediction with R & SQL Server
Predictive / prescriptive analytics is regarded the highest level of advanced analytics. In this post, we emphasise the importance of exploratory analytics to derive meaningful insight.
Designing for the Public
The way that governments build software and work with data must change if we want to be more efficient.
Why Not Just Create Statistics?
Erik Darling looks at why you should be more interested in up to date statistics, and also why statistics outside of indexes aren’t really the most helpful thing.
Blogs
Setting Up a Mac for Data Engineering and AI Work
If you work with data pipelines, SQL, notebooks, or machine learning models, a Mac...
Want to look at cloud reporting but not sure what the costs will be?
By ChrisJenkins
Have you been thinking about migrating your reporting to Microsoft Fabric or Snowflake but...
The Joyful Craftsmen and the Revolt BI join forces
The Joyful Craftsmen has become the new owner of Revolt BI. The merger creates...
Forums
SQL Art, Part 4: Happy 4th of July — A British DBA's Guide to Celebrating a War We Don't Talk About
Comments posted to this topic are about the item SQL Art, Part 4: Happy...
SQL Server Enum Implementation: A Single-Row View Strategy for Avoiding Magic Values
Comments posted to this topic are about the item SQL Server Enum Implementation: A...
BIT_COUNT I
Comments posted to this topic are about the item BIT_COUNT I
Question of the Day
BIT_COUNT I
In SQL Server 2025, I have a table (dbo.UserPermission) that contains this data:
UserID UserPermissions 15 23 37What is returned when I run this code:
select bit_count(UserPermissions) as PermissionCount from dbo.UserPermission where UserID = 3;See possible answers