Phil Factor Schema-Based Access Control for SQL Server Databases Access-control within the database is important for the security of data, but it should be simple to implement. It is easy to become overwhelmed by... 09 April 2015 25 min read
Joe Celko The SQL of The Game of Life Joe finds a reference to Conway's Game of Life whilst clearing out his desk, and is suddenly gripped with nostalgia. It wasn't just flares, mullets... 05 June 2014 7 min read
Robert Sheldon TSQL User-Defined Functions: Ten Questions You Were Too Shy To Ask SQL Server User-Defined Functions are good to use in most circumstances, but there just a few questions that rarely get asked on the forums. It... 19 May 2014 31 min read
Joe Celko Nesting Levels in SQL The 'Structured' part of SQL denotes the fact that queries can be nested inside each other in such a way that, wherever you can use... 27 January 2014 13 min read
Brad McGehee How to Document and Configure SQL Server Instance Settings Occasionally, when you install identical databases on two different SQL Server instances, they will behave in surprisingly different ways. Why? Most likely, it is down... 30 January 2012 74 min read
Benjamin Nevarez The SQL Server Query Optimizer To understand how to write SQL code for SQL Server that performs well, it is important to appreciate how the query optimizer works. Ben Nevarez... 03 August 2011 35 min read
Fabiano Amorim Questions about SQL Server Distribution Statistics Fabiano was asked a couple of questions about SQL Server Distribution Statistics. Having given an answer based on his current knowledge, he then decided to... 23 June 2011 20 min read
Alex Kuznetsov Yet Another SQL Strategy for Versioned Data There is a popular design for a database that requires a built-in audit-trail of amendments and additions, where data is never deleted, but merely superseded... 22 June 2011 11 min read
Robert Sheldon Table Value Constructors in SQL Server 2008 Table Value Constructors (TVCs) are a useful feature of 2008, allowing you to specify tables of values and expressions. This has all sorts of uses.... 22 June 2011 11 min read
Andrew Clarke SSMS: The Query Window Keyboard Shortcuts Simple-Talk's free wallchart of the most important SSMS keyboard shortcuts aims to help find all those curiously forgettable key combinations within SQL Server Management Studio... 10 June 2011 5 min read
Robert Sheldon Subqueries in SQL Server Subqueries and derived tables can add great versatility to SQL statements, cut down complexity, but can occasionally be a curse when their effect on performance... 26 May 2011 16 min read
Database DevOps Troy Hunt in Database DevOps The 10 Commandments of Good Source Control Management Simple-Talk generally doesn't re-publish anything from another site, but Troy's popular blog post on the Ten Commandments of Source Control was too good to miss.... 23 May 2011 19 min read
Tools Phil Factor in Tools RegEx-Based Finding and Replacing of Text in SSMS So often, one sees developers doing repetitive coding in SQL Server Management Studio or Visual Studio that would be much quicker and easier by using... 14 January 2011 19 min read
