How to set up a data analysis environment in esProc ...
This article is the first in this six-part “Moving from Python to esProc SPL” series. You’ll learn […]
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How User-Defined Types work in PostgreSQL: a complete guide
I’m sure I’m not alone when I say, sometimes I get sidetracked. In this particular instance, I […]
Everything you should know about the SQL Server Resource database
Every SQL Server instance contains a database that most people never query, never back up, and never […]
Why most enterprise AI projects fail – and how to ...
Today’s AI landscape is characterized by a gap. While it is often relatively easy to reach the […]
How to determine the last value used by a sequence ...
I’ve been a fan of sequences ever since they were added in SQL Server 2012. Prior to […]
Why the cloud is not a disaster recovery strategy for ...
When AWS stumbled – twice – in October 2025, many teams discovered that “we are in the […]
IDENTITY vs SEQUENCE in SQL Server – which should you ...
Auto-generated numeric keys are everywhere in relational databases. In SQL Server, two features dominate this space: IDENTITY columns […]
How to secure MySQL and PostgreSQL in the world of ...
Are you feeling the impact of AI in your daily work? No? Your database might say otherwise. […]
The secret life of database keys
There’s not much to database keys, right? When you build a new table, you add a column […]
Learning PostgreSQL with Grant: Data Storage
If you’re hosting your databases within a Virtual Machine (VM) or on some big iron, one of […]
How to optimize planned availability group failovers in SQL Server
We often perform planned availability group failovers in SQL Server for maintenance, patching, upgrades, and even hardware […]
How to safely use MySQL 8.0 post end-of-life (and alternatives ...
Regardless of how popular a specific software appliance is, particular versions of it are inevitably phased out […]
How to Find and Monitor Slow/Long-Running Queries in SQL Server
Monitoring and alerting can be overwhelming tasks, especially for those new to the world of managing production […]
Python is good, but not perfect – here are 10 ...
Four years ago I wrote a blog on this site explaining why Python is better than C# […]
SQL Server 2025 CREATE EXTERNAL MODEL and AI_GENERATE_EMBEDDINGS Commands Explained
When SQL Server 2025 was announced, Bob Ward mentioned that there would be some new commands for […]
Common SQL Server Problems: Invalid Length
This is another part in my series designed to offer guidance around common issues in SQL Server. […]
Exploiting SQL Server Date Correlation Optimization: How Tampered Backups Enable ...
This article is a follow-up to SQL Server DBaaS Vulnerability: Decrypting System Code & Exfiltrating User Data, […]
How to View SQL Server Object Code Easily with sp_showcode
sp_helptext has served SQL Server DBAs for years, but it has its very obvious – and many […]
SQL Server Privilege Escalation via Replication Jobs
Privilege escalation in SQL Server isn’t just theory – it can happen through everyday maintenance jobs. This […]
Common SQL Server Problems: Invalid Object Name
This post is part of a series on common issues encountered in SQL Server. This time, we’ll […]
How to Build an AI-Powered Semantic Search in PostgreSQL with ...
Learn how to build a sleek, AI-powered semantic search engine that lives inside your existing database. We’ll […]
10 Key Concepts Developers Should Know About the SQL Server model ...
When you create a new database in SQL Server, you might assume that the system starts with an empty […]
Making AI Talk to Your Database: AI-Powered Database Queries Made ...
Nowadays, artificial intelligence is everywhere. It’s so prevalent that even universities are implementing it into their curriculums. […]
MySQL vs PostgreSQL JSON Data Types: Key Differences & Which ...
In this article, the latest in the MySQL vs PostgreSQL series, we’ll compare how they each handle […]
15 Practical Tips for Securing SQL Server
Securing SQL Server isn’t complicated, but it does require consistent attention to the areas where real risks […]
How to Create Uber-Fast Maps With Oracle 23ai Vector Tiles ...
Since this article was written, Oracle AI Database 26ai has been released. Oracle Database 23ai added 300+ […]
5 Strategies to Refactor SQL Code
Code refactoring is a common process when developing in procedural languages – and essential to developing high-quality […]
SQL Server DBaaS Vulnerability: Decrypting System Code & Exfiltrating User ...
Security in cloud environments is both challenging and fascinating, particularly for Database-as-a-Service (DBaaS) offerings like Amazon RDS, […]
How to Build an AI-Powered T-SQL Assistant with Python & ...
If you’re a SQL Server DBA or developer looking to harness AI for your everyday scripting workflows, […]
Memories of Andrew Clarke, by Simon Galbraith
Simon Galbraith is the co-founder of Redgate and one of the creators of Simple Talk. Here, he […]
A Tribute to Andrew Clarke (a.k.a. Phil Factor)
We are deeply saddened to share the news that Andrew Clarke, better known to Simple-Talk readers as […]
How to Use the New PRODUCT() Function in SQL Server ...
With each version of SQL Server, there are always a few new features introduced that we applaud […]
Common SQL Server Problems: Network Related or Instance Specific Error ...
This is the first in a series of articles meant to provide practical solutions to common issues. […]
13 Things I wish I knew about Power Query (when ...
When I first started with Power Query, it was in Excel, through the Power Pivot feature. I […]
Unlocking Infor CloudSuite data: Making the most of it with ...
In my experiences building end-to-end analytics solutions, I often need to connect to a variety of different […]
State Transition Constraints
About two decades ago, I introduced the concept of transition constraints to show Data Validation in a […]
Oracle ASM: Monitoring and Managing (Part 2)
In the first part of this series, we explored the fundamentals of Oracle Automatic Storage Management (ASM)—a […]
Replacing a Column in a Large Active SQL Server Table
In a previous post I showed how to use a batching strategy to remove large amounts of […]
Getting started with Azure Database for PostgreSQL Flexible Server
Along with its many other cloud services, Microsoft now offers Azure Database for PostgreSQL Flexible Server, a […]
DevOps vs. SRE: Bridging the Gap, Not Building Walls (Part ...
Understanding the Divide — DevOps vs. SRE Explained The conversation around DevOps versus Site Reliability Engineering (SRE) […]
Replicating MySQL databases in Docker Containers
In my prior article, “Running a relational database with Docker”, I showed how to spin up a […]
SQL Server 2025 : Zstandard Backup Compression
This article is part of a series of posts on the forthcoming SQL Server 2025 release. Once […]
Securing PostgreSQL Against Injection, Misconfiguration, and Privilege Escalation
PostgreSQL is a robust and trusted database platform, but it’s not invincible. The PostgreSQL Global Development Group […]
Oracle ASM: A Simple Solution or Another Complexity? (part 1)
For highly performant Oracle databases, the storage must be scalable, resilient, and easy to manage—especially as infrastructure […]
MySQL vs. PostgreSQL: Date and Time Data Types
Date and time data types are important because they help track and manage time-based information in databases. […]
Moving from SQL to MongoDB’s MQL
This article is part of Robert Sheldon’s continuing series on Mongo DB. To see all of the […]
Running a MySQL database in a Docker Container
Relational databases provide a structured approach for storing and organizing large volumes of data into tables consisting […]
DISTINCT and UNION: What happens when you use them together?
When I was perusing my LinkedIn feed the other day, I came across this thread about using […]
Data Encoding Schemes
You probably noticed that when you get a bill or bank statement, it uses the current modern […]
SQL Server 2025 is in Public Preview!
On Monday, May 19, 2025, SQL Server 2025 was announced as finally going to be in public […]