A few years back I started running regular SQL workshops in my workplace. Teaching beginners the basics of querying databases with SQL, as well as more advanced topics for the more advanced.
During one session we were discussing the issue of knowledge acquired being quickly lost when people didn’t get the chance to regularly practice what they’d learnt. One of the attendees suggested that I should be assigning them homework.
I could see from the faces of everyone else present that the word “homework” struck an unpleasant chord. Perhaps reminding them of school days struggling to get boring bookwork done when they’d rather be at relaxation or play.
Okay, so homework maybe wasn’t going to go down well, but I figured everyone likes a good puzzle. So every Friday I started creating and sharing a puzzle to be solved using SQL. This went on for the best part of a year, then other things got in the way and gradually I stopped.
This is my invitation to you this T-SQL Tuesday. Write a blog post combining puzzles and T-SQL. There’s quite a few ways you could approach this, so hopefully no-one needs be left out for lack of ideas:
- Present a puzzle to be solved in SQL and challenge your readers to solve it.
- Or give us a puzzle or quiz about SQL or databases.
- Show the SQL solution to a classic puzzle or game.
- Provide a method for solving a classic sort of querying puzzle people face.
- Show how newer features in SQL can be used to solve old puzzles in new ways.
- Tell us about a time you solved a problem or overcame a technical challenge that was a real puzzle.
- Or just make your own interpretation of “puzzle” and go for it!
There’s some great stuff out there already. Itzik Ben-Gan’s done a bunch of them. There’s Kenneth Fisher’s crosswords. The SQL Server Central questions of the day. Pinal Dave’s SQL Puzzles. And there’s a few on my blog too if you take a look back:
https://matthewmcgiffen.com/2017/06/07/sql-puzzle-1-magic-squares/
https://matthewmcgiffen.com/2017/07/19/sql-puzzle-2-eight-queens/
https://matthewmcgiffen.com/2017/08/22/sql-puzzle-3-knights-and-queens/
https://matthewmcgiffen.com/2017/11/08/sql-puzzle-4-the-beale-papers/
https://matthewmcgiffen.com/2017/12/19/sql-puzzle-5-prime-magic/
Let’s puzzle together, trying to solve the challenges each other sets, and make it a real puzzle party!
Have fun all 
The Rules
- Your post must be published on Tuesday 14th May. This counts as long as it’s still Tuesday anywhere in the world.
- Include the T-SQL Tuesday Logo and make it link to this invitation post.
- Pingbacks should work, but to be sure, add a comment to this post with a link to your own so I know where to find it.
- Tweet about your post using the #tsql2sday hashtag