Category Code

Object-Oriented Programming Concepts For DBAs

This all came about when Aaron Nelson (blog | twitter) asked me a few questions about object-oriented concepts. I did the best that I could to answer his questions, but I decided that this needed a real answer that will, I’m hoping, help to bridge the language gap between DBAs and developers.
Note to the [...]

Shrink, Damn’d Log! Shrink, I Say!

Ever have a database log file grow to epic proportions on the weekend? I have. Ever forget to set up job monitoring on that server? I have. Ever get so pissed off that you decided to write a job to automatically shrink the log files whenever they grow? I have.

Push Ups and String Concatenation

SQL sucks at string manipulation. It’s not just SQL Server, it’s the SQL language in general. I’ve mentioned this before on Stack Overflow in answer to the question “What are five things you hate about your favorite language?” It’s almost easier to return the raw rows to application code than it is to work with [...]

Encrypted Stored Procedures and Their Effect on my Rug

This is a letter, or a rant, to any ISVs in the world who encrypt their stored procedures. It is, by no means, a condemnation of this horrible feature of SQL Server. The feature condemns itself.
I saw something in a blog the other day (that I wish I could find it again) where the author [...]

My MacGyver Moment

David Stein started this current blog meme. He passed the buck on to Brent Ozar, who shared a horrifying tale of his time in the trenches as a developer. Brent then thoughtfully pointed at me and demanded that I carry on the blog meme torch.
Blog memes are great. They give me an opportunity to pretend [...]