Where to Test Your Code
When and where should you test code? Steve has a few thoughts when we consider the database as a crucial part of our software.
Two Tweaks for Faster Backups with Ola Hallengren’s Scripts
Ola Hallengren’s free maintenance solution is widely used as a replacement for SQL Server maintenance plans. It’s a more powerful, flexible tool for backups, corruption checking, and index & statistics updates. If you’re using it for backups, there are two quick, easy changes that can dramatically reduce your nightly job runtimes.
How to Rename a Column in SQL Server
Learn how to effectively rename columns in SQL Server using our comprehensive guide. Explore the use of sp_rename, limitations, and best practices
What Do You Want to Learn?
There's a survey available to give your input for what topics you'd like to learn about at the next SQL Saturday.
Effective Strategies for Storing and Parsing XML in SQL Server
XML is a common storage format for data, metadata, parameters, or other semi-structured data. Because of this, it often finds its way into SQL Server databases and needs to be managed alongside other data types.
Cloud Transformation
There are lots of companies moving databases to the cloud. Steve has a few thoughts on how to evaluate this for your company.
How I Used PostgreSQL RLS To Avoid Code Changes During a Migration
This article discusses how one person implemented Row Level Security in PostgreSQL to help with a data migration from a single tenant to a multi-tenant database structure.
Query Exercise: Beat ChatGPT at Finding Good Question Times
What are the best days of the week and times of the day to post a question at StackOverflow.com?
SQL Injection Is Not Acceptable
An alert from the US government says that SQL Injection isn't an acceptable problem.
Blogs
Advice I Like: Pyramid Schemes
By Steve Jones
If someone is trying to convince you it’s not a pyramid scheme, it’s a...
Using Prompt AI for a Travel Data Analysis
By Steve Jones
I was looking back at my year and decided to see if SQL Prompt...
FinOps for Kubernetes: Leveraging OpenCost, KubeGreen, and Kubecost for Cost Efficiency
In the era of cloud-native applications, Kubernetes has become the default standard platform for...
Forums
Database file shrink issue.
Hi experts, I have a 3+ TB database on a 2019 sql server which...
The North Star for the Year
Comments posted to this topic are about the item The North Star for the...
Multiple Escape Characters
Comments posted to this topic are about the item Multiple Escape Characters
Question of the Day
Multiple Escape Characters
In SQL Server 2025, I run this code (in a database with the appropriate collation):
SELECT UNISTR('%*3041%*308A%*304C%*3068 and good night', '%*') AS 'A Classic';
What is returned? See possible answers