Voice of the DBA

Category: Editorial

  • Other IDEs

    Most of us use SSMS (SQL Server Management Studio) to manage our SQL Server instances or to write database code. However, Microsoft does give us database options with Visual Studio, VS Code, and Azure Data Studio. It does seem as though Microsoft would prefer more of us move to ADS, but I’m not sure I’m ready, and I wonder if you are.

    I saw a list recently of some other tools, and I wonder if anyone uses these in their work. Most of these are cross platform, and support a number of different database platforms. Datagrip might be the most popular, but there are others. SQL Manager, Adminer, DBVis, SQLPro, and Flyspeed are ones I’ve heard of in the past. I’ve used DBArtisan at one company, and loved it as I could work disconnected. At the time, Query Analyzer didn’t support offline work.

    Having an IDE that you are comfortable using is important to working efficiently. Many of us become quite used to the flow of our tool, we develop habits, muscle memory, and shortcuts that work for us. We get used to where things appear on the screen and what icons to click. Changing IDEs can be very disruptive and frustrating while you get used to a new interface. I still remember going from Enterprise Manager to SSMS and it was an annoying period of a few months as I got used to SSMS.

    These days I find myself trying ADS often, but usually falling back to SSMS. I think that visually the basic HTML-like display is annoying. I have much preferred the thick client look at SSMS. It doesn’t help that some of the tools I often use don’t quite work the same in ADS. If we get a bit more of SQL Prompt in there, I might change my mind, but using the Command Palette rather than keyboard shortcuts is somewhat unfamiliar to me. What’s strange is that I like VS Code overall, and use it for PoSh, but for some reason it’s not the same with databases.

    I am glad we have choice in tooling, though I don’t know that any large set of users actually use anything more than what is installed with SQL Server. I don’t know if other tools will allow anyone to produce more, or better, code, but I do know that I have found that some tools do help. It can be worth spending a bit of time experimenting with some other IDE to see if your work improves.

    Steve Jones

    Listen to the podcast at Libsyn, Stitcher or iTunes.

  • Making a Donation to PASS

    This year the PASS Summit will be virtual, though not free. Until June 19, the conference will cost $500 for the 3 day conference, $900 with precons, and $349 for a single pre-con. SQL Bits is still scheduled for September, and I wonder if they will move to virtual. Microsoft has moved all events to virtual for the next year, which puts pressure on others. The flip side is Microsoft events are mostly marketing and many other events are fundraisers for their organizations.

    PASS reopened their call for speakers, which is interesting. I wouldn’t expect any speakers to pull out from the event, but perhaps I’m wrong. Or maybe they’re expanding the schedule, since I know time zones will be an issue and I suspect we’ll see some broadcasting across the 24 hour clock. To do this isn’t free, as the infrastructure and coordination of staff to make an event happen cost money. Microsoft can just lose money on staff, but for PASS, SQL Bits, and other events, they need help. Even with volunteers helping, you need some staff. Staff requires money.

    This means the request from PASS this year is for every speaker to essentially donate their time to create a presentation and deliver it for little to no compensation. They can watch other talks for free, there will likely be some speaker gift, and there is some marketing and exposure from speaking at the Summit, but this is different than getting an admission to the live event. I don’t know how employers, clients, etc. view anyone’s speaking experience at the Summit, but it’s on my speaking CV multiple times and I’m proud that I’ve been able to speak there.

    I didn’t submit earlier this year when the call for speakers opened. The timing was bad for me, personally, and I decided to forego attending. When the call re-opened, I decided to submit. I am happy to support the community, and a virtual event means that travel and timing is less of a factor.

    I have seen some speakers question whether being asked to deliver a talk for free that will be behind a paywall is a good idea. They question if this is a fair trade for their time and effort. I think each speaker can make their own decision. I don’t mind if you speak, or if you decide this isn’t for you. It is a fair question, and there are plenty others we can debate: the financial structure of PASS, the decisions about the Summit, and the future direction of the organization.

    PASS already had a deficit in their budget this year. The Summit will likely generate less money and potentially the deficit will be larger. If I can donate a few tens of hours to build a session and deliver it, and help with the financials of PASS, I am happy to do so. I plan to support a few other events later this year as well, helping organizers where I can to weather this difficult time.

    Steve Jones

    Listen to the podcast at Libsyn, Stitcher or iTunes.

  • Are You a Gatekeeper?

    One of the problems that I’ve seen in many parts of life is the belief that things must proceed a certain way. I caught an article on ways teachers have made school less fun for kids because they adhered to some rule or belief too tightly. I think many of those stories are true because I’ve seen some strange teacher behavior with my kids over the years.

    In the tech world we’ve gotten our share of gatekeepers who think that a developer or sysadmin or some other person doing a job should do it a certain way or use particular tools. I caught a tweet that embodies the frustration some people have with those gatekeepers. Jez Humble quoted this and built a thread on this, including admitting he’s contributed to the problem. I know I have as well.

    If you think back in how you’ve worked with others, interviewed people, onboarded a new hire, or even disagreed with another person, are you a gatekeeper? Do you have strong, core beliefs that you think everyone should follow? Or are you adaptable and flexible, willing to consider slightly different thoughts, protocols, or ways of viewing problems?

    I think that many of the advances and incredible achievements in the world have some from someone thinking differently. Someone, or a group of people that grow, change, or alter something in the world make the biggest differences. We have best practices, we have standards, and we have good, solid ways of working in many cases. We also learn to become better over time in many cases, changing the way we work because of the growth in our knowledge.

    I think teams ought to come to some consensus and agreement. We have to make decisions and move forward in our efforts to build software and systems. However, we also need to allow debate, discussion, and civil disagreement. I argue for many points at work, winning people over on some, and losing other debates. I don’t always like it, but I can live with it if more people disagree with me. I think that most of us can do the same, as long as there are rational reasons for the final decision.

    Being a gatekeeper often involves having power and abusing it because you can, rather than building and generating some sort of group agreement. Real leaders find ways to work with their people, not force them to fit a mold.

    Steve Jones

    Listen to the podcast at Libsyn, Stitcher or iTunes.

  • Missing Data

    I gather some data regularly about my life. I examine and look for trends and anomalies every week, and use the data in data analysis to help me make decisions. I get this data from my watch, a Garmin Forerunner 645, which tracks a number of data points for me. Some data points are recorded automatically, some I set, but I have come to appreciate that information.

    Recently I had to get a replacement watch after a bit of a hardware failure. Huge props to Garmin for replacing my out-warranty, 3 year old watch at no cost. During this time, I was without a watch for almost two weeks, and I really noticed the lack of data.

    My watch gathers data on sleep, which I often check to see when I’ve struggled at night and wake up tired. Where was my time spent during the night, with lots of movement and wakefulness or more deep sleep? I don’t need a high level of accuracy here, but just something that helps me to think about what I might have done differently the previous day with diet, with stress, with exercise (or lack) or even emotional coping. During my week, I often check the step count, just to see if I’ve taken breaks and gotten moving, or am I sitting too much. I look at my heart rate regularly, both for the long term trends and the specific exercise to see if I’m trying hard enough.

    Losing some of this data isn’t really a big deal, but it is something I need to account for, since this is a pretty big hole in my system. As I look for trends and compute averages, I need to account for the missing data points. If I were building a report for myself, I might want to ensure the missing dates are still shown, albeit with no data. I can’t enter zeros here, because imagine 2 weeks worth of zeros in a month or resting heart rate data. I might think I’m much more fit than I am!

    There are plenty of solutions and ways to handle both aggregations and visualizations, but as data professionals, we need to ensure we know how to, and make sure we do, account for missing data points. This becomes especially important with sensor data, but even sales data can be affected. We can, and do, lose data for a variety of reasons, and we should also be prepared for those situations.

    Steve Jones

    Listen to the podcast at Libsyn, Stitcher or iTunes.