Blaming the user is the oldest joke in IT. Here’s why it fails, and how NOT NULL, CHECK, UNIQUE and foreign keys stop bad data before it lands.
SQL Error Riddles: Parent Keys Not Found and Other Classics
SQL error riddles have been passed around for years. Here are the classics, told kindly, with the real SQL Server error behind each punchline.
SQL Server Cheat Sheet
This is a post about a SQL Server cheat sheet, but not yet. First comes the history of the cheat sheet, from the first cave wall to the recipe card that cheats you, and the five laws every cheat sheet obeys. Then the new 2025 edition.
SQLAuthority News – Fun Quotes about Technology
SQL Server can be a boring subject at times, so here are some fun quotes about technology from Thomas Edison, Douglas Adams and others to lighten the day.
Slow Query Cartoon: Filtered Indexes and Functions, Tested
This slow query cartoon from Community TechDays in Ahmedabad answers a slow query with questions, not an automatic index. The tests here measure a full index against a filtered index, show why a function on a column forces a scan, and show a parameter case where the filtered index is skipped.
How to Ask a SQL Question That Actually Gets Answered
Want a fast answer? Here’s how to ask a SQL question with a small script, the exact error and the expected result, so helpers can answer.
SQL Injection: The Joke, the Failure and the Parameter Fix
SQL Injection makes a good joke and a terrible incident. The tests here show a concatenated query returning every row for one hostile name, the same text passed as a parameter returning none, a table name caught by QUOTENAME, and a read-only user blocked from dropping a table.