The EXCEPT operation was added to SQL Server in 2005. The operation compares the results of two sets. The results of the first set returns a list for every DISTINCT row that does not have a matching row in the second set. This is the equivalent of executing a SELECT DISTINCT from some object, joining to a second set using […]

Did you ever wish you could un-send, or un-do? I had one of those experiences years ago that is still memorable. I was working on a data warehouse merging data from two difference systems. Their natural keys were supposed to be unique across systems; there should be no problem merging the data into one database. The problem was, I did […]

Being a DBA for the People – 3 Ways to Start Working with all of the different people that "touch" data you’re trying to manage can be challenging. The fact is that it’s extremely important to be involved in pretty much all phases of projects that work with information you’ll be helping with from a database standpoint. In today’s world […]

T-SQL the Top Language of 2013(!) Pretty incredible if you think about it. That means more than VB, more than C# – more than … well, everything else out there, people turned to TSQL as a key to building out applications. To be fair, the headline is a bit misleading – T-SQL really is the top "mover and shaker" – […]

I have been reviewing reader comments on recent editorials about select software building blocks. Some were ok with using open systems frameworks, others preferred third party commercial tools, while others simply liked to use the tools shipping from the vendor of the software environment directly. The main concern was that any selection could become obsolete, lose support for future upgrades, […]

Data Protection is More than Access Control This breach that has happened at Target will continue to unfold and we’ll learn from it and protect things differently because of it. One thing is clear, dataprotection is going to necessarily change. It simply must. From the early information (we’ll see how it evolves over time), data was captured not by hacking […]

= Yesterday I read the first chapter of the book titled “Cracking the Coding Interview” by Gayle Laakmann McDowell who founded the website www.careercup.com. I found the introduction to be extremely valuable because I was able to relate to it from an Interviewer’s perspective. Very smart people often don’t get job offers, and they don’t know why. I love to […]

What is a reasonable expectation when using software for which you have paid nothing? Do you have a right to any expectation? I believe the answer is yes; to the degree that they have made promises as to the features and capabilities of that software. For example, software that comes downloaded with other software which is installed on your system […]

A synonym is a very useful tool SQL Server tool for granting access to an object in an indirect fashion. You haven’t used Sysnonyms before? How do they work? What do they do? A synonym is an object you define in an SQL Database that acts as a replacement to other database objects in the same database, or another SQL […]

A few months ago I presented the concept of Aspect programming. Aspect programming is a technique of applying a common functionality across all aspects of your application without directly writing the code to make it happen. Instead, you link your aspects to your code with a language that looks for patterns in your code, and assigns the activity to some […]