Voice of the DBA

Category: Editorial

  • Better Coding, More Savings

    This editorial was originally published on May 13, 2013. It is being re-run as Steve is on holiday.

    I’m sure most of us would like to think that we write fairly efficient code. However the reality for many of us might be that we don’t actually know. Many of us use the same patterns and practices that we’ve been using for a long time, rarely changing. When we learn a new technique or find a different way of coding that works better, we tend to then use that method over, and over, and over, and over again.

    I would guess that if many of us profiled our code, and examined the CPU and network bandwidth we consume, we might be surprised at what we find. CPU and network usage isn’t something we are often concerned about. We assume that we’ve bought a machine and we should be able to use as much of it as we can at any point in time. That’s not the best approach, but since we often have more hardware than we need for many processes, it works. It also explains why so many applications struggle as the load increases. They’re not coded efficiently.

    If you’re going to work in the cloud, you better learn to code more efficiently, mostly because it costs money. If you think about your design, you can reduce the amount of resources you use. In the cloud this translates to less cost. In the on-premises world, this means better performance and higher scale. It also means less complaints and phone calls.

    Scaling up an application can be hard, but much of the struggle comes from poorly coding your application in the beginning. Most of us have heard the saying that it takes less time to do it right the first time. That’s true in many situations, and it’s true for your application development. Learn to write more efficient code and use patterns that conserve resources. You’ll find your applications will run better, no matter what type of environment hosts them. If you’re not sure what patterns and practices work well, read an article or ask a question and find out what efficient techniques others use.

    Steve Jones

     

  • A Fun Distraction

    As we approach the Christmas holiday, this is a time when work usually slows down and many of us spend some time trying to relax and recharge away from the challenges and responsibilities we face in technology. Unless you work in an organization that looks to profit from the holiday, I suspect this is the slowest time of the year for you. Budgets haven’t been decided for the new year and many of us aren’t pressured with deadlines between Christmas and New Years.

    Since lots of us might have some extra time, I thought I’d ask the question about what might entertain you across the next few weeks. I’m sure a few of you have some ideas, perhaps something to catch up on that might be geek related. I’m also guessing that some of you don’t have any plans, and might be looking for something to entertain and distract you.

    Today I’m asking you to share with everyone a way that you might spend some of your time away from work the next two weeks. Perhaps there’s a science fiction book you’ve been wanting to read. Maybe there’s a geeky movie or TV show that you’d like to see. Perhaps you’re working on maker project that’s fun, like building a drone, a clock, or some other technological gadget. Or maybe you’re doing something non technical. Perhaps you’ve got a cooking project or a car improvement, or just want to learn how to open a lock.

    I’ll be traveling in Ireland for the next week with my family, so we likely won’t be tackling any projects, but I am going to try and read The Three Body Problem, on a recommendation from my oldest. Other than that, if I find time, I might see if I can convince my family to watch some of the classic sci fi I haven’t seen yet.

    Have a great holiday, and share some of your ideas for leisure activities this week and I’ll be back after Christmas.

    Steve Jones

    The Voice of the DBA Podcast

    Listen to the MP3 Audio ( 2.6MB) podcast or subscribe to the feed at iTunes and Libsyn.

  • SQL in the City 2016

    It’s time for SQL in the City 2016 to start today. Actually, by the time some of you read this, we may already be underway. This year the event is being broadcast from the Redgate Software offices in Cambridge, UK. Along with Grant Fritchey and a number of other Redgaters, we’re holding our annual conference live for the world to watch. In fact, to ensure everyone can watch, we’re going to broadcast both today and tomorrow (Dec 15) at different times to reach the entire world. If you can’t tune in today, come back tomorrow as the content is the same, just about 4 hours later. That means an early day in the office for me today, and then a late one tomorrow, but it’s worth it to give you a fun show.

    I’ve enjoyed being a part of SQL in the City for many years, in quite a few cities around the US as well as London. Each year we spend time trying to showcase new products and features from Redgate that can better help you develop software. That’s the mission at Redgate. We want to make you more productive as you build applications on top of SQL Server. Part of doing that is showing you examples and providing education in addition to selling software.

    As an evangelist, I’ve been proud that Redgate continues to give back to the community and invests heavily in SQLServerCentral, Simple Talk, and many other conferences and events around the world. We truly do want to be a part of the #sqlfamily and try to ensure that every one of us gets better at our job over time. To me this is one of the great things about the SQL Server community in that we all support, inspire, assist, and share with each other. I’m happy to help contribute what I can to educate SQL Server professionals every day.

    This should be a fun couple of days, and I hope you enjoy the sessions we’ve been developing this fall. We’ve got some great new products that have been under development in 2016 and should be releasing soon. I think you’ll like what we’ve been working on.

    Steve Jones

    The Voice of the DBA Podcast

    Listen to the MP3 Audio ( 3.2MB) podcast or subscribe to the feed at iTunes and Libsyn.

  • DBAs Need to Learn to Develop

    This editorial was originally published on Jan 7, 2014. It is being re-run as Steve is at SQL in the City today.

    My first exposure to computers was as a child, learning to program in BASIC, Assembler, and Pascal. From there I moved into other areas, such as networking and system administration. I learned about a variety of technologies before focusing on databases, but I found that my knowledge from other areas of computing helped me be a more successful DBA at quite a few jobs.

    Last year we put on a number of SQL in the City Seminars where Grant Fritchey and I talked about development practices. We give a variety of advice and practices that you can use, but one of the best things that we say in our half day event comes from Grant. He says that DBAs need to “Follow the local development paradigm as much as possible.”

    I completely agree with this. I think that many of the practices of building software, as flawed as they might be, are good ideas that many developers use on a regular basis. They know how to work in a flexible manner, tracking their code and keeping it under control, and fixing problems in a rapid manner. As immature as the software development process can be, there are things that we, as DBAs, can learn.

    As SQL Server continues to grow as a platform, there are more and more enhancements, many of which involve programmatic capabilities expanding. I highly recommend that DBAs think about learning more about programming, and specifically a .NET language, if you’ve never used one. If you have, consider brushing up those skills.

    Steve Jones