Posts tagged with: development
Tally, Oh! A table of numbers, splitting strings, and more
I was recently asked, “What is the DW.Numbers table used for in our database?” The simple answer is that it is can be used to perform many tasks in a set based operation that would normally require a loop, or...
Value creation checklist
It is pretty amazing some of the ideas we come up with here through the myriad of idea generating avenues we have – swimtank, hackathon, R&D, etc. Everyone truly wants to be part of solving great problems. Currently we are...
The Value of Naming Constraints
In certain designers, such as SQL Server Management Studio table designer, when you create certain constraints (Primary and foreign keys, defaults, and check constraints) they will be given a name that contains a GUID to verify the name is unique. This...
Performance Troubleshooting without Data? Enter DBCC Clone Database
With SQL server 2014 SP 2 Microsoft added a new feature that sounds pretty sweet for troubleshooting some performance problems. It is called Clone Database. In a Nutshell Clone database gives you a copy of the specified databases without any...
Improve data quality by addressing non-stated requirements
I read an article by David Poole a few weeks ago where he talks about addressing non-stated requirements. I believe this is an area that is quite often overlooked when data modeling; at least up front. He sums it up...
Using medium-term goals to drive Now vs Not-Now prioritization
Mike Cohn posted an article a few years ago on Now vs Not-Now Prioritization Along with Medium-Term Goals. The article is a good read. In the article he states. At the start of each quarter, a product owner should put...
Our enterprise tools and using the CUSTOM schema
I was recently asked a question about what is the CUSTOM schema in our tools used for and I thought it may be a good idea to write about it in case you are not familiar with it. With our...
Healthcare AI helps diagnose eye disease
I had meant to post a technical article today on a new SQL 2014 feature that could help with troubleshooting performance problems, but I ran into an environmental snag. So look for that in the coming weeks. Instead I thought...
Knightmare – Where were the testing and development practices?
The Dark Knight showed us what a psychopath could do with gasoline, a match, and large piles of other people’s money. It seems insane to most people to burn Certificates of Performance (money) in this way. “This is the story...
Why have a date dimension?
Many of our products utilize a date table (dimension in warehousing speak). They make quite a few things easier when you are doing reporting over denormalized data. For example you no longer have to write case statements in every report...