Understanding CROSS APPLY and OUTER APPLY in SQL Server

Learn the differences between CROSS APPLY and OUTER APPLY in SQL.

The Subtle Differences Between COALESCE and ISNULL

See how ISNULL and COALESCE behave in different situations and ensure you know which one to pick when.

Creating a Date Dimension (Calendar Table) in SQL Server

Learn how to create and populate a Date Dimension table in SQL Server

Elements of the SQL Server Update Statement

Learn how to use the UPDATE statement, along with a few things to be aware of when changing data.

The Long String

Understanding UNION and UNION ALL in SQL Server

A short look at the differences in UNION and UNION ALL in a SELECT query.

Replacing a NULL II

Basic Regex Emulator for SQL Server

Regular expressions (REGEX) let you adaptively investigate, employ, and authenticate text data. This makes it easy to search for simple or complex string patters. There is no direct way to do this in SQL Server, but in this article we look at some SQL functions you can create to emulate regex like functionality.

Implementing Fuzzy Search in SQL Server Using New Inbuilt Functions

Learn about the new string similarity functions in Azure SQL Database.

Improving the Performance of UPDATE Statements in SQL Server

Learn how to optimize UPDATE performance in SQL Server by examining three different methods of making large updates.