I have been a bit lax these past few days, but I have been having a bit of a writers block not knowing what to write about.  Well, I realized this evening there is something worth writing about, and it is happening right now on SQLServerCentral.com.  An amazing thing is happening on this thread Performance issue with tally solution.

The SSC community has come together in a effort to develop a variety of methods to parse strings.  People have put together routines that use cursors, while loops, tally tables, double barreled tally tables, double barreled double carbed tally tables, CLR procedures, and (if I remember correctly, which I might not) even a XML version.  Florian Reischl started this particular thread and has been spearheading the testing of the procedures.  Many others have joined in the project that has definitely shown what can happen when a community like that on SSC gets together.

This has been one of the most interesting threads I have had the opportunity to be just a small participant in as it has grown.  Many of us are eagerly awaiting the testing of the procedures, looking to see which one is "the best".  Early testing, however, has shown that the choice of procedures is really dependant on many factors.  I'm not going to spoil anything here, so I'm not even going to say anything more on that particular subject.

We are encouraging Flo to fully document everything that is occurring and to submit an article (or two or three) when he finally completes the testing.  I really think it will be a significant article and one that many people will reference.

If you are interested to see what is happening click on the hyperlink above and start reading!