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The State of SQL Server Tools

Vicky Harp provides us a general update on things related to SQL Server tooling:

This week we’re announcing the general availability of SQL Server 2019, a significant milestone for Azure Data and for SQL Server customers. This presents a good moment to give an update on the state of tooling for SQL Server.

Since SQL Server 2016, the tools for SQL Server have been released independently “out of box” from the server product. This allows us to be more agile to the needs of our users, get both features and bug fixes shipped more quickly, stay aligned with the more continuous release cycle of Azure SQL, and in general allows the tools team to innovate in exciting ways. However, one side effect is that it can be difficult to understand what’s happening across the tools landscape, as things change quickly in multiple products that are releasing as frequently as every month.

Azure Data Studio has gotten a lot better. SSMS has gotten a little better. We’ve also seen work around several other tools, including command-line options. It’s a good time to be in SQL Server.