SQL Server Magazine

Bug with NEWID Function

Itzik describes a bug involving the NEWID function and table expressions.

Into the Wild

Itzik talks about his impressions of Into the Wild—a book now made into a movie.

HierarchyID

Use SQL Server 2008’s new data type to maintain and query hierarchical data.

The Logical Puzzle

Get the solution to June’s puzzle, “Josephus Problem.”

HierarchyID

Solution to Shipping Algebra Puzzle

Itzik describes the solution to last week’s puzzle.

Shipping Algebra

See if you can solve this logic puzzle involving shipping and algebra.

Use T-SQL to Solve the Classic Eight Queens Puzzle

Hone both your logic and programming skills by using T-SQL to solve this logic puzzle.

The Logical Puzzle

Get the solution to May’s puzzle “A Cat, a String, and the Earth,” and prepare your mind for June’s puzzle.

Composable DML

Itzik describes a new feature in SQL Server 2008 called Composable DML.

Beer, Salt and a Tip for Life

Itzik shares a tip that he got from a waitress that makes beer drinking a better experience.

Temporal Histograms

Handling distribution of events over time is tricky. Break the problem into steps. If handling all of a task’s requirements at once is too complicated, relax some requirements, solve a simpler form of the problem, then reintroduce the complexity layers.

The Logical Puzzle

Get the solution to April’s puzzle, “Suicidal Mosquito,” and prepare your mind for May’s puzzle, which involves distance calculation.

Changes to MERGE and HIERARCHYID

Itzik describes changes to the MERGE statement and the HIERARCHYID datatype that will appear after CTP 6.

Set Operations

Circumvent unsupported logical phases, work around SQL Server 2005’s lack of INTERSECT ALL and EXCEPT ALL, and take advantage of the INTERSECT and EXCEPT operations’ treatment of NULLs.

The Logical Puzzle

Get the solution to March’s puzzle “Too Clever by Half,” and prepare your mind for April’s puzzle, which involves calculating distance.

Set Operations

Unique Constraint with Multiple NULLs

Itzik describes how you can enforce a unique constraint with multiple NULLs in Microsoft SQL Server 2008.

Tip for SQL Server Management Studio

Itzik provides a tip regarding highlighting code in SQL Server Management Studio.

MERGE

SQL Server 2008’s MERGE statement simplifies the task of merging source data into a target table.