SELECT Hints, Tips, Tricks FROM Hugo Kornelis WHERE RDBMS = 'SQL Server' : Personal

T-SQL User-Defined Functions: the good, the bad, and the ugly (part 1)

Hugo Kornelis — Sun, 20 May 2012 14:08:00 GMT

So you thought that encapsulating code in user-defined functions for easy reuse is a good idea? Think again! SQL Server supports three types of user-defined functions. Only one of them qualifies as good. The other two – well, the title says it all, doesn’t...(read more)

[OT] Alive and kicking

Hugo Kornelis — Sat, 02 Aug 2008 22:01:30 GMT

Wow! Would you believe that it’s almost five months since my last blog post? How time flies.

No, I have not forgotten about you. I know you’ve all been faithfully checking the site (or your feed) each day, maybe even each hour, to get my next post. What can I say? I’m sorry for keeping you waiting so long.

The truth is, that I have been very, very busy. Lots of time has been spent on work (for without work, there will be no salary and hence no way to feed the family) and family (for why bother working hard to feed them if I can’t enjoy my time with them). And out of the remaining spare time, large chunks have been allocated to tech editing the next edition of Paul Nielsen’s SQL Server Bible. And apart from that, there are also a few hobby’s and interests that have nothing to do with SQL Server and that I will therefore not share with you J.

I hope to be able to post a bit more in the future. I plan to publish some of my thoughts on database design. But I have not forgotten about the unfinished “bin packing” series I started late last year – at least two more installments are planned there. And apart from that, I have various ideas and snippets collected. So if time permits, you can expect to see a bit more from me in the future.

Upcoming speaking events

Hugo Kornelis — Sun, 09 Sep 2007 21:54:12 GMT

I know I’ve been neglecting my blog lately, but I at least have a valid excuse this time. Four weeks ago, I received two emails on a single day, both inviting me to speak at two different Dutch events that will be held in the same week.

I replied “yes” to both mails, and since have been preparing my sessions. For those readers who would like to catch me speaking, I’ll give the details below.

For the “Software Developer Conference 2007”, to be held in Arnhem, the Netherlands on the 17^th and 18^th of September, I’ll deliver two sessions:

“Verbeter de performance van je database in zeven simpele stappen” (Seven simple steps toward improving performance of your database).
“CLR User-defined types in SQL Server 2005”

And for the meeting of the Dutch PASS chapter, to be held in Amsterdam in the evening of the 20^th of September, I’ll deliver a single session:

“Aan de slag met SQL Server Service Broker” (Getting started with SQL Server Service Broker).

Note that all sessions will be held in Dutch, so if you don’t speak Dutch, you’d probably better go to Denver instead.

A Better Developer in 6 months? Deal!

Hugo Kornelis — Tue, 17 Jul 2007 22:08:32 GMT

It's all the fault of Denis Gobo. He tagged me, and now I feel obliged to publish my plans for the last half of 2007 as well. I am not quite as ambitious as Denis, though.

My first commitment

Like Denis, I will read more technical books. I have a huge stack of unread books on my desk, that I will try to finish. Here are the books, in planned reading order:

Inside Microsoft SQL Server 2005: T-SQL Programming, by Itzik Ben-Gan.
A Developer's Guide to SQL Server 2005, by Bob Beachemin and Dan Sullivan.
MCITP Self-Paced Training Kit (Exam 70-444): Optimizing and Maintaining a Database Administration Solution Using Microsoft SQL Server 2005, by Orin Thomas and Iam McLean.
Inside Microsoft SQL Server 2005: The Storage Engine, by Kalen Delaney.
SQL Server 2005, Practical Troubleshooting, The Database Engine, by Ken Henderson

I am currently near page 20 of T-SQL Programming.

My second commitment

I'll write more blog posts. At least two per month. Non-technical blog posts, like these, don't count.

In case anyone believes that blogging won’t make me a better developer, go ahead and read some of my previous blog posts. Then try to guess how much time I have spent studying a subject before I even start writing about it.

My third commitment

I will set up a virtual machine and actually install and test at least two CTP versions of SQL Server 2008 (instead of just downloading them and forgetting which directory I put them in, as I currently do).

My fourth commitment

I’ll try to increase my number of posts in SQL Server related newsgroups to at least 200 posts per month. (As a comparison, I had 55 posts in June, and 45 posts in the first half of July).

Like blogging, replying to questions in newsgroups is a great way to learn, as it confronts me with problems I don’t have in my normal work and that require me to think out of the box. Plus, I automatically see other replies when working in a newsgroup, which is also a great source of inspiration!

My fifth commitment

I am enrolled in a number of online courses offered by Microsoft Learning. Some are completed, some partially completed, and some not even started. I’ll finish them all before the end of the year. Here is the list:

I have currently finished two of the eight modules of collection 2781 completely, and a third one for 81 %. I also noted that a third collection I was working on has already expired, so I guess I won’t be able to finish that one.

Progress

I know myself. If I just make plans and keep them for myself, I’ll forget about them. Posting my plans here and labeling them as “commitments” will generate some extra pressure for me. To add yet more pressure, I will also post progress reports, as comments to this post. Don’t expect daily reports, but feel free to prod me if you see no progress reports for three weeks or more.

Tagging

Denis says he knows it’s cheesy, but did it anyway. I agree with his assessment; tagging is VERY cheesy indeed. So I won’t. (Do I hear some sighs of relief?)

Back with a vengeance!

Hugo Kornelis — Thu, 29 Mar 2007 14:11:00 GMT

It’s been quite a while since my last blog post. Almost three months, in fact. In case you have been wondering if I was ill, dead, or abducted by aliens – not at all. The reality was far worse: Adam Machanic has coerced me into contributing a chapter on spatial data for his excellent book “Expert SQL Server 2005 Development”, due out in May (rather than the original plan to ship in March, possibly due to a certain author of a certain chapter not meeting any of his deadlines…).

Anyway, the chapter is finished and I now finally find myself in the lucky position of actually having a bit of spare time again. I still have a lot of ideas for blogging, so I hope to get back to my normal schedule of 2 – 3 posts per month again.

I’ll post the first one in a minute. Read it (or else…)