a=b=c?

• R.P.Rozema

  SSChampion

  Points: 12317

  More actions

  August 17, 2011 at 6:42 am

  #1369552

  Sadly, we don't enforce putting in comments (development team of 22 people, of which 6 are mostly working with T-SQL). But we have all agreed to doing it and most actually do so...

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  Posting Data Etiquette - Jeff Moden[/url]
  Posting Performance Based Questions - Gail Shaw[/url]
  Hidden RBAR - Jeff Moden[/url]
  Cross Tabs and Pivots - Jeff Moden[/url]
  Catch-all queries - Gail Shaw[/url]
  

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  If you don't have time to do it right, when will you have time to do it over?

• Jeff Moden

  SSC Guru

  Points: 1004151

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  August 17, 2011 at 9:39 pm

  #1369927

  SQLSandwiches (8/17/2011)

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  @Jeff, your audience must be on a more advanced level than mine here. I usually have to explain even the concept of a common table expression: "It's almost like a temporary view". But at least on one point we are in full compliance: in-code comments should (and will) explain all that is beyond the most obvious. So I always add them wherever needed, AND keep them up-to-date when changing the code. Thank you for this conversation (and of course your performance comparison of = ALL).

  Since we are on the topic, why aren't CTE's taught more? Once I started using them I found them useful.

  As for commented code, do you guys enforce it in your workplace? I was able to use policy management for object naming but didn't find a way to enforce commented code.

  It's great to say in theory - "code should always be commented" but how do you practice it?

  We "practice" it by making it perfectly clear that it's a part of the job and doing 100% code reviews to enforce it. Doing 100% code reviews is not as difficult as most people would have you believe.

  --Jeff Moden

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  RBAR is pronounced "ree-bar" and is a "Modenism" for Row-By-Agonizing-Row.
  First step towards the paradigm shift of writing Set Based code:
  ________Stop thinking about what you want to do to a ROW... think, instead, of what you want to do to a COLUMN.

  Change is inevitable... Change for the better is not.
  

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  Helpful Links:
  How to post code problems
  How to Post Performance Problems
  Create a Tally Function (fnTally)