Think You Know A Lot About SQL Server? Well, Actually…
Got a few minutes? Close that dating app and pay attention. Check out this little SQL swipe quiz: “Well, Actually…” Swipe right if you think the statement is true, left if it’s false, or up if it’s debatable. Your score is tracked as you go. It’s a fun …
SQL Server index tuning: common mistakes and how to fix them
Indexes are supposed to make SQL Server faster – so why do so many databases end up slower, bloated, and harder to maintain when they have more of them? It usually comes down to misapplied indexes rather than missing ones. There may be too many that ar …
How to get clean, usable data out of SQL Server into Python
In the modern data landscape, most of the effort doesn’t go into building models or dashboards. It goes into getting the data into a usable state. Generally, a large portion of time is spent extracting, cleaning, and reshaping data before any analysis …
Comparing MySQL Enterprise Monitor with Oracle Enterprise Manager for MySQL – which is best?
MySQL Enterprise Monitor was a tool many database administrators turned to in times of need – that was, until Oracle Enterprise Manager for MySQL came along and stole the show, leading to its phasing out at the start of 2025. Plenty of DBAs have since …
T-SQL Tuesday Roundup: You Know A Query’s Gonna Be Bad When…
For this month’s T-SQL Tuesday, I invited y’all to tell me how you know a query’s gonna be bad when you open it. Riccardo Perico and Shane O’Neill says WHILE loops and/or CURSORs are pretty good indicators. I agree, because especially when you’re openi …
AI built my WordPress plugin. Here’s what worked – and what went wrong (building an app with AI, part five)
Building a WordPress plugin was never part of Grant Fritchey’s comfort zone — but that’s the whole point of this series. In Part 5 of his AI-driven app build, Grant uses Microsoft CoPilot and GitHub Copilot to generate a working WordPress plugin for db …
[Video] What AI is Good For Right Now
This isn’t specifically database-related, but it’s the kind of thing I’m really into, so maybe you’re into it too. I sat down with Giovana Carvalho, the Managing Director at Teachable, the e-commerce platform I use to sell training classes, and we chat …
How SQL Server maintenance becomes an attack path – and what to do about it
This article takes one practical thread from Fabiano Amorim’s broader SQL Server security research: how apparently normal permissions and routine maintenance can become an attack path. The goal is not to walk through a full proof of concept, but to hel …
[Video] Office Hours Overlooking Rome
I was in Rome to attend a teaching conference, and my AirBnB had the most beautiful view overlooking Rome and Vatican City. While having my morning coffee, I went through your top-voted questions from https://pollgab.com/room/brento – and I didn’t go t …
The best AI developer tools in 2026: from coding agents to code review
AI developer tools have matured fast. In 2026, most engineering workflows touch at least one AI coding agent, code reviewer, or research assistant — but the right combination depends heavily on your team size, codebase, and tolerance for setup overhead …
Updated First Responder Kit and Consultant Toolkit for July 2026
From now on, I’m going to be releasing annual versions of the First Responder Kit, starting with this one, which I’m calling the First Responder Kit 2026. I’ll still release more frequently on Github, but I won’t be blogging about it here. I want to ma …
Big data: what it is, why projects fail, and how to get value from it
Although ‘Big Data’ (and more specifically, the analysis of it) offers several benefits, organizations often fail to derive the correct insights – the data that could help them make better business decisions. So, in this article, I’ll reveal exactly ho …
I let AI build my API. Here’s what happened (building an app with an AI LLM, part four)
Building an API with AI is fast, but it’s not hands-off. In this article, Grant Fritchey uses Microsoft CoPilot and GitHub Copilot to generate a secure REST API for his built-by-AI application, dbRosetta, by connecting a PostgreSQL database to a future …
How to automate Fabric data agent testing with promptfoo and GitHub Actions
This guide walks through setting up promptfoo, an open-source LLM testing framework, to run automated test suites against your Fabric data agent locally and inside a GitHub Actions pipeline. The result? Every prompt, assertion, and regression check wil …
Tomorrow’s the Last Day to Sign Up!
Tomorrow’s your last day to join about a dozen of your closest friends – well, you’re gonna be close soon – attending my live online fall rotation of all-new classes, starting with next week’s Fundamentals Week 2026: Fundamentals Week – July 13-17 – co …