Five Minute Refactoring
The debate over how to change code or solve a problem can create arguments that last for years. Steve Jones notes the idea of limiting debates to five minutes is interesting.
The Challenges of Space
CSS Engineers at Microsoft are reporting more space issues with database systems. Steve Jones has a few comments.
Powershell day-to-day Admin tasks: WMI, CIM and PSWA
WMI (Windows Management Instrumentation) is the basic way of querying and changing basic information about any windows server, including SQL Server or Exchange Server. It provides a logical structure and representation of systems and services that are hosted on the server and is essential for anyone who is keen to automate routine monitoring and administration work via PowerShell, especially where many servers are involved in the task.
Stored Procedures and SQL Injection
Why do stored procedures help with security? In this piece, MVP Brian Kelley explains why SQL Injection and information gathering are hampered with stored procedures.
Managing Test Data as a Database CI Component - Part 2
Tim Hidalgo goes through some practical demos to show you how you can automatically keep your testing environments up to date, and ship more robust databases.
Add Styles to Your Reporting Services Reports
Reporting Services provides a robust reporting platform that rivals many other products. New author Adam Aspin stars a series on how you can dress up your reports and maintain good development practices.
Checking Table Metadata with tSQLt
In this article on tSQLt, learn how you can use the AssertResultSetsHaveSameMetaData method from the framework to enforce your API.
Practical Hekaton
Steve Jones is searching for anyone that is using In-Memory OLTP tables in production.
Converting Rows to Columns (PIVOT) and Columns to Rows (UNPIVOT) in SQL Server
Learn how to convert row values into column values (PIVOT) and column values into row values (UNPIVOT) in SQL Server.
Blogs
Advice I Like: Respect
By Steve Jones
“Don’t aim to have others like you; aim to have them respect you.” –...
Blue Sky Programming – The Optimism Trap
Many years ago, before I joined Oracle, I was working on a major modernisation...
Setting Up a Mac for Data Engineering and AI Work
If you work with data pipelines, SQL, notebooks, or machine learning models, a Mac...
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 Still Wins
Comments posted to this topic are about the item SQL Server Still Wins
DBCC CHECKDB Limits I
Comments posted to this topic are about the item DBCC CHECKDB Limits I
Question of the Day
DBCC CHECKDB Limits I
When running DBCC CHECKDB on SQL Server 2025, can I include the Resource Database?
See possible answers