All posts by: Joel Ewald
Equivalence Partitioning and Other Testing Methodologies
I was recently sent an article on different testing methodologies. Thanks Danny. The article covered a topic that I think many people may forget about when thinking of how to write tests. That topic is Equivalence Partitioning. Equivalence Partitioning is used to...
Starting with T-SQL for SQL Server
I was recently having a conversation with someone and they asked me what some good resources were to begin writing SQL. So I thought it would be a good idea to compile a quick list of places I like to...
Lessons Learned: Standard Dashboard Episode 1
Where I currently work many process improvement projects end up requiring some sort of software deliverable be created and left behind to aid in the sustainment of the process improvement work. Originally these were prototypes developed for a single site,...
Quickly Defining a Table Structure From a Query
I recently saw a comment that described getting data into a temp table using SELECT <Columns> INTO <Table>. The main reason this was done was just for convenience and to speed up getting to the answers they ultimately needed. For...
Ransomware: another reason to have a good Disaster Recovery Plan
I read a chilling editorial over at SQL Server Central in regards to the growing threat of Ransomware. Steve Jones presents a nightmare scenario for a business. Imagine you come into work and all of your database columns are encrypted....
T-Shirt Series: The Temporary Line
Throughout the T-Shirt series we have discussed Temp Tables, Table Variables, Derived Tables, and Common Table Expressions (CTE). In this post I will summarize high level differences under normal circumstances. See the articles above for further details. Temp Table Table...
The value of an effective stand-up
Lately, I have been thinking about how we could execute our stand-up meeting better. Usually when I start questioning the effectiveness of something I like to refocus on the intended value. I recalled a post I read quite a while...
T-Shirt Series: The CTE (Common Table Expressions)
I have been asked what is the difference between Temp Tables, Table Variables, CTEs, and Derived tables. So I thought I would take this opportunity to do a short blog post on each and then summarize the differences. I like to...
Generate XSD from Sql query using FOR XML
Transitioning from site specific prototypes to more standardized products for delivery to multiple customer sites has been a driving factor for separating custom source system translations from the product itself. This has led to many of our products having a...
T-Shirt Series: Derived tables
I have been asked what is the difference between Temp Tables, Table Variables, CTEs, and Derived tables. So I thought I would take this opportunity to do a short blog post on each and then summarize the differences. I like...