How to identify and filter In-Memory Optimized Tables in SQL Server Management Studio, shown in a quick SQL in Sixty Seconds video.
SQL SERVER – ISNUMERIC Puzzle and Unexpected Results – SQL in Sixty Seconds #076
This ISNUMERIC puzzle asks why one statement returns 0 and a look-alike returns 1. The answer is a tab character. This post tests it on SQL Server 2025, lists the 27 single-byte characters that ISNUMERIC accepts and shows safer checks before a cast.
Find Rows With Single Quotes in SQL Server: SQL in Sixty Seconds #075
To find rows with single quotes, write the quote twice inside the search string. This post tests four search patterns on one million rows on SQL Server 2025, shows which two are the same query and which one costs more, and covers the curly quote that a straight quote search misses.
Delayed Transaction Durability Explained: SQL in Sixty Seconds #074
Delayed transaction durability lets a commit return before its log record reaches the disk. This post explains the idea and the three settings, then measures 10,000 small transactions on SQL Server 2025 and shows the one risk with a log write count. It ends with a simple rule for using it safely.
Live Execution Plan of a Running Query: SQL in Sixty Seconds #073
A live execution plan shows how far a query has gotten while it is still running. This post builds a slow query on SQL Server 2025, watches it through sys.dm_exec_query_profiles from a second window, and explains why rows divided by the estimate is a progress meter only when the estimate is right.
Cardinality Estimation and Performance: SQL in Sixty Seconds #072
Cardinality estimation and performance depend on each other: the optimizer guesses a row count, and that guess picks the plan and sets the reads. This post tests one query under the old and the new estimator on SQL Server 2025, shows where the new guess wins and where it loses, and explains how to switch estimators with the smallest possible change.
SQL SERVER – Poll – What would you love to see in SQL in Sixty Seconds?
SQL in Sixty Seconds is coming back in June. Tell me what you would love to see, and if I build a video on your idea, you get a surprise gift.