Edwin Sanchez, Author at {coding}Sight

The Best SQL VARCHAR Do’s and Don’ts for Faster Databases

July 13, 2021July 13, 2021 Edwin Sanchez Leave a comment

This post has “strings attached: for a good reason. We are going to explore deep into SQL VARCHAR, the data type that deals with strings.

Also, this is “for your eyes only” because without strings, there will be no blog posts, web pages, game instructions, bookmarked recipes, and a lot more for our eyes to read and enjoy. We deal with a gazillion strings every day. So, as developers, you and I are responsible for making this sort of data efficient to store and access.

With this in mind, we will cover what matters best for storage and performance. Enter the do’s and don’ts for this data type.

CodingSight - The Best SQL VARCHAR Do's and Don'ts for Faster Databases

What are SQL Aggregate Functions? (Easy Tips for Newbies)

July 12, 2021July 13, 2021 Edwin Sanchez Leave a comment

SQL Aggregate Functions are functions that perform calculations and return a summarized result. With these, it’s easy to do these calculations on data sets:

Count,
Sum,
Average,
or getting the minimum or maximum values.

But there’s more.

CodingSight - What are SQL Aggregate Functions?

10 SP_EXECUTESQL Gotchas to Avoid for Better Dynamic SQL

July 9, 2021July 9, 2021 Edwin Sanchez Leave a comment

Do you know how powerful a tool like dynamic SQL can be? Use it the wrong way, and you can allow someone to take over your database. Plus, there might be too much complexity. This article aims to introduce the pitfalls when using SP_EXECUTESQL and offers 10 most common gotchas to avoid.

CodingSight - 10 SP_EXECUTESQL Gotchas to Avoid for Better Dynamic SQL

SQL FLOAT: 3 Points that Will Help you to Avoid Weird Math Errors

June 8, 2021June 30, 2021 Edwin Sanchez Leave a comment

Have you ever thought that SQL can be wrong in math? It sounds crazy. But if you’ve used the SQL FLOAT data type, you may have come across the problems I am about to show you.

CodingSight - SQL FLOAT: Avoid Weird Math Errors with These Top 3 Points

SQL Data Types: 5 Worst Choices You Need to Stop Today

June 7, 2021June 16, 2021 Edwin Sanchez Leave a comment

Do your choices of SQL server data types and their sizes matter?

The answer lies in the result you got. Did your database balloon in a short time? Are your queries slow? Did you have the wrong results? How about runtime errors during inserts and updates?

It is not so much a daunting task if you know what you’re doing. Today, you will learn the 5 worst choices one can make with these data types. If they have become a habit of yours, this is the thing we should fix for your own sake and your users.

CodingSight - SQL Data Types: 5 Worst Choices You Need to Stop Today

Easy Answers to 5 Vital Questions about Composite Index in SQL

May 19, 2021June 29, 2021 Edwin Sanchez Leave a comment

Imagine you need to query a table with a WHERE clause on columns a, b, and c. Sometimes, you filter the results with columns a and b only. Should you create 2 indexes? One would be with columns a, b, and c, and another one would be for columns a and b only, right? The answer depends on your knowledge of the SQL Composite Index.

Clustered and Non Clustered Index: 7 Top Points Explained

May 18, 2021June 29, 2021 Edwin Sanchez Leave a comment

Indexes are speed-boosters in SQL databases. They can be clustered or non-clustered. But what does it mean and where should you apply each?

I know this feeling. I’ve been there. First-timers are often confused about which index to use on which columns. However, even experts need to think this issue through before making a decision, and different situations require different decisions. As you will see later, there are queries where a clustered index will shine compared to a non-clustered index, and vice-versa.

CodingSight - Clustered and Non-Clustered Index: 7 Top Points Explained

MySQL UPDATE Statement with Useful 5 Tips for T-SQL Developers

May 7, 2021July 15, 2021 Edwin Sanchez Leave a comment

Are you adding MySQL to your list of database skillsets? Then MySQL UPDATE statement is one of the commands you need to learn.

We are continuing our journey to MySQL from the SQL Server point of view. It started with MySQL CREATE TABLE, followed by MySQL INSERT, and the most recent piece was about MySQL DELETE. Today, UPDATE is our focal point.

CodingSight - MySQL UPDATE: Top 5 Tips for T-SQL Developers

In memory Tables (OLTP) in Microsoft SQL Server Databases with Examples

April 29, 2021May 20, 2021 Edwin Sanchez Leave a comment

What if 1 second of a transaction process is too long? You can tune your queries. But what if it’s not enough, can you still step up your game?

In-memory OLTP may be the answer.

SQL Date Format: How to Handle it the Smart Way

April 13, 2021July 9, 2021 Edwin Sanchez Leave a comment

Thanks to the diversity of cultures on Earth, we have a variety of date formats. For numeric dates, we have month-day-year, day-month-year, and year-month-day. We also have short and long formats. Dates can be mixed with time, which is another story. This reality follows us at work. That’s why the SQL date format is not something we can take easy.