I’ve been spending a lot of time this last week fighting and arguing with tools and frameworks. It seems like the more we want tools to automatically generate code for repeatable things, like an ORM, the more we give up on good design. The code generators tell us how to design our systems, because they only implement the happy path. […]

I have been doing a lot of comparison of the Sharepoint offerings available today, and came across Bob German’s editorial on the topic. While I was looking for comparisons of Sharepoint as a Platform on Azure to Sharepoint on premise, I came to understand there is a completely different capability, regardless of where it is hosted; Sharepoint as a Service. […]

An agile DBA is committed to re-factoring database schema and code. This is not something we traditionally like to do, as a DBA. The reason is simple. Unlike code, making a change to your database has to be concerned with Data Loss. So, changing things like stored procedures, functions, etc. is not that difficult. But, when you change the underlying […]

When you choose an agile SDLC, it changes, to some degree, the meaning of “Done”. In a perfect Agile environment, when your code is complete, you should be able to release it to a production environment. In agile, for a period of work, you select a feature that is consistent within itself. This means, if it depends on another feature […]

When working on a project of any size, the only way a DBA can keep up with a team of software developers is through delegation and collaboration. This is contrary to how we traditionally like to work, as a DBA. We like to be in complete control. We like to be the final gatekeeper, making sure nothing is added to […]

Today I want to talk about estimating SQL Work. For me, this is the most difficult thing to do. I have colleagues who have their own estimation techniques that work for them. Take a gut estimate of what it will take, multiply by some factor (Some multiply by 2, others by 3), because your gut is always too conservative. They […]

The next topic I want to address, essential for the Agile DBA, and important for other SDLC methodologies, is continuous integration and automated builds. These are two different processes that work hand in hand. As you know, an automated build system takes all of the code that has been checked into version control, compiles it, and produces a working result. […]

As I stated yesterday, using techniques designed for an Agile SDLC for your database, enables you to work within an Agile process. However, Automated Testing provides value for any SDLC. Automated Testing is most easily performed at the object level, and consists of different implementations. Much like automated testing of application code, you can create automated tests for scalar user […]

If you are working with a group that wants to use an Agile methodology, there are some things you are going to need to do in order to keep up as a DBA. Personally, I like Agile better than other software development lifecycles (SDLC). I think that’s the reason I come to this topic a lot, from a lot of […]

My favorite kind of work, when creating or implementing business systems, executes at a very fast pace. Unless the system is especially complicated, I don’t require UML diagrams or lots of other documentation. Business rules and wireframes often serve as acceptable requirements to get things going. Clearly, there is a lot more to any system, and appropriate documentation is essential. […]