As we have been talking about different ways of optimizing database queries it reminded me of different ways to optimize application performance when it comes to returning data to the application tier. There are two schools of thought with different strategies. Some applications retrieve data on demand, a lazy load approach. Others may choose to use a approach, retrieving lots […]

What I’m going to write today is pretty obvious. However, I can’t believe how often I get it wrong. When applications begin to have performance issues…what is the first thing you suspect? In many cases the immediate suspect is the database. What’s interesting to me is that the last few times I have been working with systems supported by SQL […]

I’m having a hard time realizing what I am going to write today. It goes against what I have experienced for years. And it explains why some of our auto generated tools have continued to be adopted. I shared some tips on optimizing data transformations for an MVC application where the data returned to the client is shaped according to […]

AutoMap is a Dot Net library used to transform data model objects to and from data transfer objects. It uses a fluent syntax, helping you manage your data conversion efficiently. Personally, I don’t find it any more efficient that rolling your own transformation methods. However, the standardized way in which it is implemented, and the widespread use of this library […]

Today I was working with an application where I create a SqLite database for an embedded device. I’ve been using the System.Data.SqLite package started on SourceForge years ago. It provides dot net device drivers for SqLite, implementing the Ado.Net interfaces, allowing me to work with a database using traditional Ado.Net code. The library also supports Entity Framework, should you need […]

I’ve had the pleasure (great deal of sarcasm intended) of recently working with a legacy system where the database objects are limited to 8 or less characters. Table names are often numbered. Column names use some abbreviations in an effort to provide the illuminated with some meaning. To work with these databases a person requires a special decoder ring to […]

I’ve been thinking about what would be the most essential skills when working with relational databases. I’d probably break it down into two key capabilities, when it comes to developing performant code. I’d start with a good understanding of relational design. It’s important to know the different forms of normalization, and understand when it is best to apply the more […]

When optimizing an OLTP database, one of the key performance issues is to isolate the writes from the reads. We’ve been talking about using Immutable data as a way to keep reads from blocking writes, by reading without locks, etc. Today I want to talk about another method that works rather well. Even if you use database locking, and have […]