A Fine Slice Of SQL Server
Deb Melkin stands in front of the gate:
When I think of what my coding standards are, I tend to think of it as how would I review scripts for a pull request (PR). I think my past coworkers can attest that I can get quite picky when I look at code. So if I were your reviewer, what sort of things would I comment on?
Click through for a checklist.
Comments closedTom Zika writes out a list of coding standards:
No magic constants
What is
4? Just set a variable (constant) from a lookup table. Or write a comment with an explanation.
It’s the least you can do.
Read on for a set of things I generally agree with. This one’s a little bit of a tough case, as in extremely high-performance systems where the cost of a lookup is just too expensive, I’d prefer to use keys rather than values and save the compute cost and possible worse query plan. That said, even in that case, yes, definitely write a comment explaining what 4 is. That said, had I picked any of the other dozen or so recommendations, I wouldn’t have had anything interesting to say other than “go read this.”
2 CommentsKevin Chant values consistency:
Over the years I have worked a lot with automating T-SQL updates across multiple databases. During that time, it has become very clear that both consistency and comments are essential to make the process smooth.
Naming conventions of objects created using T-SQL should be consistent. Along with comments in your code for colleagues or anybody else who picks up your code.
Especially if you are working in a team who want to work in a DevOps related way.
I value consistency a lot but I’ve found I’m too inconsistent to be consistent.
Comments closedKenneth Fisher finishes a roundup:
This months subject for T-SQL Tuesday was Your first technical job. I have to say I really really enjoyed reading everyone’s stories and it in a lot of ways made me feel closer to all of you. Thanks for participating!
And of course, if I forgot someone please let me know so I can get them added!
Click through to see everybody’s entries.
Comments closedCamila Henrique summarizes the most recent T-SQL Tuesday:
I had a lot of fun reading your different takes on it! Here are the posts of everyone who contributed (and dutifully linked it back to me).
Click through for the list of entries.
Comments closedWhen doing inserts, updates or delete statements using T-SQL always, and I mean always, run them inside a transaction.
You can do this in different ways in SQL Server. One of the most popular ways is to start an explicit transaction by using the begin transaction command. From there you can either commit the transaction if it is good or issue a rollback command to undo the transaction.
Read on for the why. This is excellent advice.
Comments closedChad Callihan has some advice:
A quick T-SQL/SSMS trick that I know and love is the ability to add text to multiple lines at a time. I tend use macros in Notepad++ to accomplish these types of repetitive actions but this type of work can be completed in SSMS.
Annoyingly, this doesn’t work quite the same way in VS Code or Azure Data Studio. Alt + Down moves a line down one, Alt + Shift + Down copies the current line. To replicate this behavior in VS Code / Azure Data Studio, hold down Alt + Shift and use the mouse to select the lines you want.
Comments closedI was the host this month for T-SQL Tuesday #147 and here is a look at the people who blogged (that I know about). If I’ve missed anyone, let me know.
Click through for a summary.
Comments closedKenneth Fisher pulls out the company directory:
This month the topic we are blogging about is Upgrade Strategies. Or, how do we look at SQL Server upgrades. In my case I want to talk about the absolute hardest part of any upgrade at my company.
I should point out that I work for a large company with a lot of moving parts. Over the course of my tenure here I’ve helped to support hundreds to thousands of SQL Server instances. And at least for us, the technical part of an upgrade isn’t too bad. Where we almost always run into problems is Who do we contact?
Read on for Kenneth’s thoughts on the topic.
Comments closedT-SQL Tuesday this month is all about upgrades, so here are a few more thoughts on the topic. Let’s start with Reitse Eskens:
Things change when you’re working with a lot of data or when you’re trying to use SQL Server to the max. At some point you’ll see new features that will support your workload or add security for your data. Here are the steps I’d take to evaluate new versions.
Todd Kleinhans tells a horror story with a happy ending:
I had just been laid off for the first time in my life from a dot com. I was a classic ASP web developer, a junior development DBA, and I knew Access and FileMaker Pro. Interviewed and got hired on as a contractor to help with Access and ASP.
Before me, a local consulting company was retained to help them with the migration from Access to SQL Server. It was a disaster.
Rob Farley thinks about ways to make the upgrade process smoother:
Comments closedI don’t envy application vendors who don’t have a strong DevOps story. They need to get it in place so that they can scale, but it doesn’t happen overnight. The road to good deployment practice is long and is threatened by all kinds of things. Code coverage is rarely complete, and problems seem to find those places that don’t have good testing in place yet (typically because problems are avoided in the areas that do have good testing). All this is so much easier when a project is starting from scratch, and not the culmination of a decade or more of development needing to be compatible with the last four versions of SQL Server and Windows.