Latest SQLComics

Nested Loops

on March 24, 2024

Nested loop join operators tend to look quite innocent in an estimated query execution plan. But life ain’t always so simple.

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Meet the SQL Server Query Optimizer

on March 11, 2024

Thanks to Erik Darling for pointing out that it needed a little teeth.

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Plan Caching in SQL Server v1

on March 4, 2024

I drew out a first visualization of how the shared plan cache in SQL Server is used when you run a query. I’m pretty sure I’ll refine and and elaborate on this in the future, so let’s call this the v1.

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Compare SQL Server Isolation levels

on February 17, 2024

Most modern hardware supports RCSI and Snapshot isolation beautifully.

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Latest blog posts

Setting a Custom Variable in an Azure DevOps Pipeline with PowerShell

on September 2, 2019

Here’s a quick post on something simple which stumped me for a while, in the hopes that search engines help someone else who gets confused in the same way.

Recently, I was doing a bit of work in Azure DevOps Services, preparing a demo for an upcoming webinar. I ran into a simple but frustrating problem.

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Git Command Line Tutorial with SQL Change Automation for SSMS (video)

on August 26, 2019

I’m really excited for Redgate’s new SQL Change Automation plugin for SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS). SQL Change Automation lets DBAs and developers use a migrations-first approach to create precise scripts to apply changes to your database. If you’re curious about what I mean by “migrations-first”, read more about this approach, and how it compares to a state-first approach here.

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Key Findings for Database Professionals from the Accelerate State of DevOps Report 2019

on August 22, 2019

The Accelerate: State of DevOps Report 2019 has just been published. This report is the latest in six years of research. With more than 31,000 survey responses, Accelerate is the longest running study of DevOps in academia or industry. In the 2019 edition, research continues to show that DevOps drives business value: high performers at DevOps are “twice as likely to meet or exceed their organizational goals.” While this isn’t a new finding, it’s very important that this continues to be true: why invest in improving at DevOps if it doesn’t drive business value?

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Azure DevOps: How to Set a Custom Release Branch Folder Filter in Build Pipeline Triggers (video)

on August 19, 2019

This is the first in a series of posts about simple things that I had a hard time figuring out in Azure DevOps services.

It can be very useful to enable Continuous Integration for multiple folders in your DevOps pipeline – say, for every branch created under releases/ or features/. But configuring this can be strangely confusing!

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