A common SQL habit is to use SELECT * on a query, because it’s tedious to list all the columns you need. Plus, sometimes those columns may change over time, so why not just do things the easy way? But ...

Everyone wants faster database queries, and both SQL developers and DBAs can turn to many time-tested methods to achieve that goal. Unfortunately, no single method is foolproof or ironclad. But even ...

An update to the cardinality estimator feature in SQL Server 2022 will be one of the biggest changes to the database engine since its inception. Database engines like SQL Server are incredibly complex ...

Microsoft has just added support for query hints to Azure SQL Database, giving database administrators a powerful tool to manage the performance of ISV application code. Here's how it works. Database ...

With JSON now the default format for moving data between clients and servers, SQL Server adds JSON support to make it easier to get your data out of the database and down to the client. SQL Server ...

As I described here, Power BI can send SQL queries in parallel in DirectQuery mode and you can see from the Timeline column there is some parallelism happening here – the last two SQL queries ...

Part of the problem is that there is no magic bullet, and for almost every best practice, I can show you at least one exception. Typically, a developer finds his or her own favorite methods — though ...

SQL Server 2022: Here’s what you need to know Your email has been sent Three decades on, SQL Server is still a database workhorse that powers both an internal line ...

JSON has stolen some of XML's thunder with features such as human and machine readability, a lightweight, compact text structure and support for many software and hardware platforms. JSON (JavaScript ...