Question: Retrieve TOP 10 Rows Without Using TOP or LIMIT? We do not want to use TOP or LIMIT as they are actually not an ANSI implementation.
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Operator Costs in an Execution Plan: Read Them Without Being Fooled
Interpret operator costs as estimates, compare actual rows and runtime evidence, and find expensive work without trusting plan percentages.
Priority Boost in SQL Server: Check It and Turn It Off
Priority boost sounds like a speed setting, but it can make a server slower. This post explains what the option does, checks it with a query that works when Management Studio doesn’t show it, prints the statements that turn it off with their undo, and explains why a restart is needed.
Check Index Fragmentation With Row Count in SQL Server
To check index fragmentation with row count, read sys.dm_db_index_physical_stats in SAMPLED mode and keep the page count and row count next to each percentage. This post builds a demo with three tables, lists every index, filters out the tiny ones, loops over every online database, and rebuilds the one index that matters.
MariaDB – MySQL – Show Engines to Display All Available and Supported Engine
I inspect each Supported Engine with SHOW ENGINES on MariaDB. A customer using MariaDB alongside SQL Server asked about this list.
SQL Puzzle – Schema and Table Creation – Answer Without Running Code
This Table Creation puzzle asks for an explanation before you run its code. I suggest examining the batch separators carefully.
MySQL OUT Parameter: IN, OUT and INOUT in Stored Procedures
A MySQL OUT parameter lets a stored procedure hand a value back to the caller through a variable. This post tests IN, OUT and INOUT on a small table, shows the error you get when you pass a literal, and compares the syntax with SQL Server.
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