Recently I have been seeing more and more projects using agile database design techniques in an effort to keep database change in step with software code utilizing the database. Code can change very quickly; especially if accompanied by unit testing. Code can be more easily changed with confidence if the unit tests continue to work after change is completed. A […]

It is interesting how different people work with data on a computer. While one screen layout is efficient for one person, it is not efficient for another. It all depends on how your mind works and how you access, manipulate and utilize data. I worked for a company where the user experience (ux) designer was not a computer professional. They […]

Today I was reading a good example of how software can get out of control. In an effort to future proof software designs or assure that it can never be used in a manner for which it was intended simple software is wrapped with development patterns that fit, work, and even make the software bullet proof. However, the original intention […]

Personally, I have resisted Convention over Configuration as it is often implemented. In order for Convention to work there must be a close coupling or synchronization of design between different layers in order for convention to work. For example, to make tools such as Entity Framework function by convention alone the database schema and object model must be synchronized. Usually […]

Convention over Configuration is the principle that software defined by a convention will be easier to maintain than software driven by configuration. If you have used the Model/View/Controller implementation by Microsoft you will see that it is based heavily on this principle. Using Microsoft MVC you identify what Controller is called by setting a URI pattern to the name of […]

The System.Data namespace in Microsoft Dot Net allows for engine specific extensions to be implemented favoring the capabilities specific to that data engine. Dot Net ships with System.Data.SqlServer providing easy access to the SQL Server data engine from Microsoft. Other engines must provide their own implementation, or rely on third party efforts to fill the gap such as DotConnect.Express for […]

As a followup to the previous editorial, "Know Your Code" Mark replaces in detail with his personal take on the matter. Following are his comments. Ben, I couldn’t agree more, and for what it’s worth, add my “philosophical” rants to your example. My first programming journey’s were on the old Sinclair ZX Spectrum in the early ‘80’s (using tape drives […]

Over time the number of stored procedures in a database can grow. Somehow, it never seems to shrink. Stored procedures remain that have never been used for a long period of time. They become obsolete, but are not removed. Have you ever wanted to remove those unused stored procedures, but don’t know which ones are obsolete? Today’s tip will help […]

As the information about how to write software continues to grow on the internet a trend is emerging where software developers are able to write software without really understanding how what they have written works. They are able to copy code snippets from an example, modify it slightly to meet their needs, and plug it into their software without knowing […]

SQL Server Database failover strategies include built in solutions from Microsoft. However, there are some third part failover tools operating outside of SQL Server with different kinds of results. SAN Storage is a popular device for SQL Server data because of performance and high availability built into the SAN itself. It scales to a very large size, and allows for […]