Investing in proper database design is a very efficient way to cut maintenance costs. If we expect a system to last, we need to make sure it has a good solid foundation - high quality database design. Surely we can and sometimes do cut corners and save on database design to get things done faster. Unfortunately, such cutting corners frequently ...

I will be doing my Characteristics of a Great Relational Database, which is a session that I haven’t done since last PASS. When I was asked about doing this Summit Preview version of 24 hours of PASS, I decided that I would do this session, largely because it is kind of light and fun, but also because it is either going to be the basis of the end ...

Relational?!? Move On, Geezer!Maybe you're thinking that relational databases management systems (RDBMSs), like Microsoft SQL Server and Oracle, are going the way of punched cards and rotary phones.  After all, there's been a lot of hype these days in the IT media about the rise of so-called NoSQL (Not Only SQL) databases. ...

Later this week I will be doing an episode of the Greg Low’s excellent SQL Down Under podcast (http://www.sqldownunder.com/Resources/Podcast.aspx), something I did once before back in 2006.  If you haven’t listened to any of the previous editions, there are some amazing people who have been on his podcast. On Thursday at 12:00 Central Time, ...

Almost two months have passed since my last blog post. And while it’s true that I’ve had (much) longer breaks, I do have a good reason now. All the time that I would normally at least in part spend on preparing new blog posts is now reserved for preparing presentations for a few upcoming events. I’ll give you an overview – who knows, maybe you’ll ...

A year or so ago, I watched a few episodes of a Dutch television program that had an interesting format. The name of the series was (or is, I have no idea if it still runs) “Sterren op het doek” (“Stars on Canvas”). Every episode featured a Dutch celebrity, three painters, and an interviewer. For the program, the three painters each paint a ...

In an earlier post, I talked about the Jargon Principle, one of three principles I learned in 1994 and that have not only helped make me a better modeler, but that I have found to be very valuable in many other situations as well. Today, I will cover the second of those principles. The Concreteness Principle Again, not in the exact wording I ...

In one of my previous posts, I discussed whether data modeling is art or science, and I concluded that, unfortunately, the current state of affairs is that it’s closer to art than to science, whereas I would like to see the opposite. And I think that the same applies to process modeling. Back in 1994, I learned about a methodology that managed to ...

Well, we are finally here at what is the secular version of the holiday season for Microsoft SQL Server nerd types, the week of the SQLPASS Summit. This year, I am speaking 3 times and will also be doing the Quiz Bowl at the Welcome Reception, so I am going to be busy. If you are here and are interested in database design, please do stop by and ...

A brillant idea and an opportunity that no-one that works with databases (DBAs or Developers) should miss: http://www.db-class.com/ A free online course on databases: This course covers database design and the use of database management systems for applications. It includes extensive coverage of the relational model, relational algebra, and ...