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Dependencies and References in SQL Server

It is important for developers and DBAs to be able to determine the interdependencies of any database object. Perhaps you need to work out what process is accessing that view you want to alter, or maybe find out whether that table-type you wish to change is being used. What are all these dependencies? How do you work out which are relevant? Phil Factor explains.

External Article

The Oracle PL/SQL Results Cache

Oracle offers a results cache in the database (from 11.2 onwards) and in PL/SQL (again, from 11.2 onwards) which can greatly reduce execution time of repeated statements when insert/update/delete activity is not heavy. The mechanism in PL/SQL, however, may not work as expected with global temporary tables. Using a slightly modified example, Jonathan Lewis looks at what you might see when using this option.

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Maintaining a grouped running MAX (or MIN)

If you're on SQL Server 2012 or greater, you definitely want to become familiar with all of the extensions to the windowing functions first introduced in SQL Server 2005 – they may give you some pretty serious performance boosts when revisiting code that is still running "the old way." Aaron Bertrand explains.

External Article

SQLXML Bulk Loader: The Sequel

SQLXML isn't exactly new technology, and parts of it aren't pretty, but if you need to heave vast quantities of XML data into a SQL Server database then you may come to appreciate the raw speed of which it's capable. Adam Aspin shows how to configure the SQL XML Bulk Loader tool for optimal data loading performance.

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Question of the Day

Distance Metric Algorithms

What are the distance metric algorithms that can be used in VECTOR_DISTANCE()?

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