A data file grew over the weekend and nobody owns up. This small demo shows how one extended event tells autogrowth from a manual resize.
Identity Column Quiz: Why Did My IDs Skip a Number?
This Identity Column Quiz starts with three rows and one rolled-back insert, then asks what ID the next row gets. The answer is 5, not 4. A tested script proves it and shows two more ways numbers go missing.
SET NOEXEC and PARSEONLY: Checking a Script Without Running It
Use PARSEONLY and NOEXEC to inspect scripts without executing them, understand deferred references, and check existing module dependencies.
Types of Triggers Quiz: Which Trigger Can Fire on a View?
This Types of Triggers Quiz asks which trigger you can put on a view that joins two tables. The answer is INSTEAD OF INSERT. A tested script shows the error an AFTER trigger gives and how the working trigger splits one insert into two tables.
ANSI Isolation Levels Quiz: Which Level Lets You Read Uncommitted Data?
This ANSI Isolation Levels Quiz asks which level lets one session read a price that another session has not committed. A two-window test on SQL Server 2025 shows what each level returns. It also shows how READ COMMITTED SNAPSHOT removes the wait.
SQL SERVER – Interview Questions and Answers – Perspectives of an Author
Today is the first day of year 2012 – Happy New Year!. This blog post is written by my co-author of SQL Server Interview Questions.
Give It Away: Why Sharing What You Know Makes You Better
Sharing what you know does not empty you. Like a village well, knowledge fills faster the more people draw from it. A year of publishing every day taught me why giving it away makes the giver better.