Monthly Archives: November 2013

Checking Up on Developers

Posted on November 26, 2013 by

This editorial was originally published on May 8, 2009. It is being re-run as Steve is on vacation. The other day I was reading Brad McGeHee’s post on duplicate indexes, and it struck a chord with me. That same issue … Continue reading →

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Vendor Value

Posted on November 25, 2013 by

This editorial was originally published on May 18, 2009. It is being re-run as Steve is on vacation. Software is a very interesting business. Where else can you produce a product that has zero marginal costs for additional units? Where … Continue reading →

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Core T-SQL

Posted on November 22, 2013 by

Often I find myself wondering about the minimum bar we expect people to clear to be competent in some field. Almost all fields are evolving these days as technology and new ideas are put into practice in medicine, art, construction, … Continue reading →

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Powershell in a Month – Day 3 – Commands

Posted on November 21, 2013 by

This is part of my Powershell Challenge, to learn more about Powerhsell (PoSh) using the Learn Windows Powershell 3 in a Month of Lunches book by Don Jones. Day 3, chapter 4. This one is about commands, and getting familiar with what a … Continue reading →

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What is SQL Server not good at?

Posted on November 21, 2013 by

I was reading a post that had this quote: ” The MongoDB docs tell you what it’s good at, without emphasizing what it’s not good at. ” This isn’t to pick on MongoDB, but the post did make me wonder what SQL … Continue reading →

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Backups and Consistency

Posted on November 20, 2013 by

I wrote about transactional consistency recently. Why do we need this? Imagine that I have an orders table and an ordersdetail table in my database. The orders table has the order header (date, customer, etc) and the detail table includes … Continue reading →

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It Starts with Version Control

Posted on November 20, 2013 by

As a software developer, I learned about the value of version control over time. My first forays into development were as a child, where I made a single backup of my code on a separate floppy disk in the event I had … Continue reading →

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Testing Skills

Posted on November 19, 2013 by

This editorial was originally published on May 11, 2009. It is being re-run as Steve is on vacation. How can you measure someone’s skills? Is there a good way to actually assess how well a DBA or developer will do … Continue reading →

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Learn about Database Deployment in DC

Posted on November 18, 2013 by

SQL in the City is coming to the DC area in a few weeks with a seminar on the Stairway to Database Deployment. Both Grant Fritchey and I are traveling to the Washington DC area to deliver a half day, … Continue reading →

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More Vacation

Posted on November 18, 2013 by

As I try to recharge and relax, I’m taking today and tomorrow off. Just a quick note that I’m trying to live up to my advice and get away from work when I can.

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