Today, I am excited and humbled to learn that I am awarded “Rookie of the Year – 2014” by MSSQLTips.com.

I have to say it is probably my best decision in 2014 to write for MSSQLTips.com as I am not only paid decently for writing about what I love to share, but also forced to do a lot of R&D in areas that I am not very familiar with, such as .Net classes, PowerShell, SMO etc. This R&D work has benefited me a lot.

Writing an article is different from writing a blog. Writing a blog is easy in the sense that you know it will be “published” but writing an article in a highly-regarded website is totally another thing because first there is no guarantee that your article will be published and second, even if it is published, you will more likely get caught for any bugs or deficiency in your code or logic. To me, the concern or worry that my article is below accepted quality forces me to spend more time and efforts in crafting an article from idea selection, article composition to multiple environments tests (i.e. from sql server 2005 to sql server 2014) and continuous proof-reading /modification. The process is much longer and more painful than writing a blog.

I really encourage all SQL Server professionals to share their ideas via anyway they like, blog, forum, or articles. But personally, I’d recommend MSSQLTips.com if you have some practical tips that are not too long and can be easy to follow. It is very rewarding to know that your tip helps others in their daily work and on the other hand, it is awesome to treat yourself a good dinner outside with royalties received.