SQL Server for many versions has allowed for 128 Unicode characters when defining system names. A system name is used for a table, column, view, stored procedure or function, etc. The number of allowed characters allowed in SQL Server has changed over time, being restructured to 30 back in SQL Server 6.5. Other engines may have other constraints. When responding […]

I can still remember a code review with Adam, many years ago. He said, “You have magic numbers! That’s really bad.” Sadly, I didn’t even know what he meant, even though I had been coding for years. Adam went on to explain that Magic Numbers are those times when you create a variable and set it to a scalar value. […]

Kalen Delaney wrote an excellent white paper on the enhanced optimization of SQL Server 2016 In-Memory OLTP Optimization. The changes are dramatic, and enable incredible performance gains at the price of RAM. There are some key things she writes about that I wish to point out, because they result in a truly viable option for systems suffer from Disk Bound […]

Today I’d like to share two quotes I really appreciated in the comments on unit testing. Judeyak writes, “once you write the test, it lives on, manual tests are gone forever once you complete them.” How true that is. I once wrote a complicated stored procedure that required about 10 hours to complete and debug. It’s more difficult to write […]

We had some good feedback on bad data. I’d like to see if I can summarize the input from everyone into a concise package. Bad data is the result of many natural processes in an organization: Data is developed across different business units, is not comprehensive in each unit, and when brought together can result in duplication or loss. When […]

Bad data produces bad results. Who can argue with that logic? But it is something that happens frequently, for one reason or another. As data professionals, we do all we can to guard against bad data. We use techniques such as check constraints, strongly typed data, relationships, and much more. Still, there seems to be those nagging instances of bad […]

I’ve taken on the task of overseeing the development of Unit Test standards for a group in which I’m a part. So, I thought I might use this opportunity to share some thoughts, and hopefully get some feedback from others. So let me start with some philosophical things to get the conversation started. I have practiced Test Driven Development, and […]

It’s been a while since we talked about using Virtual Machines (VM) as server hosts for SQL Server. There was a time when performance on a VM was not worth the benefits provided by a VM system, and we continued to use physical systems. However, as the architecture of CPUs has changed, the reduction in performance of a VM server […]

Visual Studio Database Projects have been available for a few years. They have been used for version control, and data change migrations. One capability I have been reviewing is the ability to have automated unit testing of stored procedures and functions. Microsoft has a two layer approach to database unit tests that is quite ingenious. Their testing methodology has two […]

Do you find that the number of SQL Server instances you need to manage just continues to grow? Not everyone has that problem. But, if you do, it can get out of hand rather quickly. You need to maintain a list of all those servers, where are they located, and how do you connect to them. You may also be […]