Are the posted questions getting worse?

  • Jeff Moden (8/4/2015)


    I think before we get into interview questions, it would be much better to define what a DBA/Developer needs to be, know, and do.

    I remember a post that someone made several years ago that pretty well had it down pat. I was going to add it to my briefcase but I apparently forgot. IIRC, the post was about job descriptions and what was posted in one of the posts on that thread was just brilliant. I wish I could find it again.

    Would it be a post in this article?

    http://www.sqlservercentral.com/articles/Career/72939/

    Jason...AKA CirqueDeSQLeil
    _______________________________________________
    I have given a name to my pain...MCM SQL Server, MVP
    SQL RNNR
    Posting Performance Based Questions - Gail Shaw[/url]
    Learn Extended Events

  • SQLRNNR (8/4/2015)


    WayneS (8/4/2015)


    Sean Lange (8/4/2015)


    yb751 (8/4/2015)


    Raise your hands if you like Entity Framework...then I'll know who to shoot!

    Sorry just needed two seconds to vent. :crazy:

    I'm sure like anything else it can be fine when implemented properly. Problem is the devs here had carte blanche long before I showed up and I'm feeling the pain. Troubleshooting performance problems with those statements are a HUGE pain!

    </rant>

    I know just enough about EF to totally despise it. One of our previous developers brought a "query" to my desk once that EF wrote for them. They used profiler to get the actual query and confirmed it did in fact return the correct results. He knew I am pretty savvy at finding ways of scraping performance out of queries so he asked me to look at it and see if I could "work my magic" on it. This thing was nearly 800 lines and had over 100 subqueries (many of them nested 7-10 layers deep).

    I told him that I would be happy to fix it for him. I hit Ctrl - N and asked him what the query needs to return. 😛

    That's the best way to deal with ORM. Just saying...

    Second that notion.

    To bastardize a great quote: "ORMs are the root of all evil."

    Then there's this: What ORMs have taught me: just learn SQL


    My mantra: No loops! No CURSORs! No RBAR! Hoo-uh![/I]

    My thought question: Have you ever been told that your query runs too fast?

    My advice:
    INDEXing a poor-performing query is like putting sugar on cat food. Yeah, it probably tastes better but are you sure you want to eat it?
    The path of least resistance can be a slippery slope. Take care that fixing your fixes of fixes doesn't snowball and end up costing you more than fixing the root cause would have in the first place.

    Need to UNPIVOT? Why not CROSS APPLY VALUES instead?[/url]
    Since random numbers are too important to be left to chance, let's generate some![/url]
    Learn to understand recursive CTEs by example.[/url]
    [url url=http://www.sqlservercentral.com/articles/St

  • SQLRNNR (8/4/2015)


    Jeff Moden (8/4/2015)


    I think before we get into interview questions, it would be much better to define what a DBA/Developer needs to be, know, and do.

    I remember a post that someone made several years ago that pretty well had it down pat. I was going to add it to my briefcase but I apparently forgot. IIRC, the post was about job descriptions and what was posted in one of the posts on that thread was just brilliant. I wish I could find it again.

    Would it be a post in this article?

    http://www.sqlservercentral.com/articles/Career/72939/

    THAT would be the one! Great discussion after a great article. Thanks for finding it, Jason!

    For those that want to know, the exact post on that thread that I was looking for can be found here.

    http://www.sqlservercentral.com/Forums/FindPost1456698.aspx

    The article for that discussion thread is also awesome. It's a must read in my book and I'm glad that Jason re-found it for me.

    --Jeff Moden


    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.


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

  • I have been nominated again for Author of the Year at MSSQLTips.com. For some reason they already started the voting process, which runs until the end of the year.

    You can vote here and karma will be with you if you vote for me as well 😀

    https://www.mssqltips.com/mssqltips-author-voting.asp

    Need an answer? No, you need a question
    My blog at https://sqlkover.com.
    MCSE Business Intelligence - Microsoft Data Platform MVP

  • Koen Verbeeck (8/5/2015)


    I have been nominated again for Author of the Year at MSSQLTips.com. For some reason they already started the voting process, which runs until the end of the year.

    You can vote here and karma will be with you if you vote for me as well 😀

    https://www.mssqltips.com/mssqltips-author-voting.asp

    sounds good to me.

  • Koen Verbeeck (8/5/2015)


    I have been nominated again for Author of the Year at MSSQLTips.com. For some reason they already started the voting process, which runs until the end of the year.

    You can vote here and karma will be with you if you vote for me as well 😀

    https://www.mssqltips.com/mssqltips-author-voting.asp

    Voted. Good luck.

    "The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood"
    - Theodore Roosevelt

    Author of:
    SQL Server Execution Plans
    SQL Server Query Performance Tuning

  • Grant Fritchey (8/5/2015)


    Koen Verbeeck (8/5/2015)


    I have been nominated again for Author of the Year at MSSQLTips.com. For some reason they already started the voting process, which runs until the end of the year.

    You can vote here and karma will be with you if you vote for me as well 😀

    https://www.mssqltips.com/mssqltips-author-voting.asp

    Voted. Good luck.

    Thanks!

    Need an answer? No, you need a question
    My blog at https://sqlkover.com.
    MCSE Business Intelligence - Microsoft Data Platform MVP

  • Koen Verbeeck (8/5/2015)


    I have been nominated again for Author of the Year at MSSQLTips.com. For some reason they already started the voting process, which runs until the end of the year.

    You can vote here and karma will be with you if you vote for me as well 😀

    https://www.mssqltips.com/mssqltips-author-voting.asp

    +1

    😎

  • I am shattered, y'all. Just shattered.

    Romance is officially dead.

    I'll be in the back of the Tent in the Desert, crying my eyes out for a while.

    Brandie Tarvin, MCITP Database AdministratorLiveJournal Blog: http://brandietarvin.livejournal.com/[/url]On LinkedIn!, Google+, and Twitter.Freelance Writer: ShadowrunLatchkeys: Nevermore, Latchkeys: The Bootleg War, and Latchkeys: Roscoes in the Night are now available on Nook and Kindle.

  • Luis Cazares (8/4/2015)


    Lynn Pettis (8/4/2015)


    SQLRNNR (8/4/2015)


    Lynn Pettis (8/4/2015)


    SQLRNNR (8/4/2015)


    Steve Jones - SSC Editor (8/4/2015)


    Since we're all piling on the behavior of others, I was wondering.

    Is there value in getting the questions/knowledge that people lack in interviews published? Not really as a cheat sheet, but as a way to surface that knowledge that interviewers think is important. I suspect it would be a long list, so it's unlikely that anyone could just memorize all the answers.

    However even if they did, I think they'd be learning.

    I was actually thinking to try and collect a list of things from interviewers and put a session together. I meet so many 101 people at events, they might benefit from a session that guides them towards learning a few things first.

    You could take a look at this stuff from Wayne.

    http://blog.waynesheffield.com/wayne/archive/2012/06/interview-questions/

    Okay, I'm hoping he changed is lab after posting that blog. The lab as described would be the easy part. Now, some of the questions he mentioned in the in-person interview, there are a few I may have some difficulty with answering. Guess I need to do some research!

    You'd be surprised how many can't survive the lab.

    From the description in his blog, it just seems easy to me. Of course I am not in the pressure cooker actually working the lab during an interview process.

    I wouldn't mind giving it a shot just to see how I'd do.

    The lab might be very easy for the threadizens. I wonder if it extra points would be achieved for going directly to Wayne's article on creating a comma delimited list.

    I have to admit that I wouldn't be able to answer some questions.

    There are some I wouldn't be able to answer as well. Then again, how a candidate reacts to not knowing all the answers to everything might be a part of the interview. Let's face it - I don't think anyone knows everything there is to know about SQL Server.

  • Koen Verbeeck (8/5/2015)


    I have been nominated again for Author of the Year at MSSQLTips.com. For some reason they already started the voting process, which runs until the end of the year.

    You can vote here and karma will be with you if you vote for me as well 😀

    https://www.mssqltips.com/mssqltips-author-voting.asp

    Voted. Good luck, Koen.

  • Brandie Tarvin (8/5/2015)


    I am shattered, y'all. Just shattered.

    Romance is officially dead.

    I'll be in the back of the Tent in the Desert, crying my eyes out for a while.

    c'est la vie

    😎

  • dwain.c (8/4/2015)


    SQLRNNR (8/4/2015)


    WayneS (8/4/2015)


    Sean Lange (8/4/2015)


    yb751 (8/4/2015)


    Raise your hands if you like Entity Framework...then I'll know who to shoot!

    Sorry just needed two seconds to vent. :crazy:

    I'm sure like anything else it can be fine when implemented properly. Problem is the devs here had carte blanche long before I showed up and I'm feeling the pain. Troubleshooting performance problems with those statements are a HUGE pain!

    </rant>

    I know just enough about EF to totally despise it. One of our previous developers brought a "query" to my desk once that EF wrote for them. They used profiler to get the actual query and confirmed it did in fact return the correct results. He knew I am pretty savvy at finding ways of scraping performance out of queries so he asked me to look at it and see if I could "work my magic" on it. This thing was nearly 800 lines and had over 100 subqueries (many of them nested 7-10 layers deep).

    I told him that I would be happy to fix it for him. I hit Ctrl - N and asked him what the query needs to return. 😛

    That's the best way to deal with ORM. Just saying...

    Second that notion.

    To bastardize a great quote: "ORMs are the root of all evil."

    Then there's this: What ORMs have taught me: just learn SQL

    My favorite:

    ORMs: The fastest way to a slow database.

    Wayne
    Microsoft Certified Master: SQL Server 2008
    Author - SQL Server T-SQL Recipes


    If you can't explain to another person how the code that you're copying from the internet works, then DON'T USE IT on a production system! After all, you will be the one supporting it!
    Links:
    For better assistance in answering your questions
    Performance Problems
    Common date/time routines
    Understanding and Using APPLY Part 1 & Part 2

  • Lynn Pettis (8/4/2015)


    SQLRNNR (8/4/2015)


    Lynn Pettis (8/4/2015)


    SQLRNNR (8/4/2015)


    Steve Jones - SSC Editor (8/4/2015)


    Since we're all piling on the behavior of others, I was wondering.

    Is there value in getting the questions/knowledge that people lack in interviews published? Not really as a cheat sheet, but as a way to surface that knowledge that interviewers think is important. I suspect it would be a long list, so it's unlikely that anyone could just memorize all the answers.

    However even if they did, I think they'd be learning.

    I was actually thinking to try and collect a list of things from interviewers and put a session together. I meet so many 101 people at events, they might benefit from a session that guides them towards learning a few things first.

    You could take a look at this stuff from Wayne.

    http://blog.waynesheffield.com/wayne/archive/2012/06/interview-questions/

    Okay, I'm hoping he changed is lab after posting that blog. The lab as described would be the easy part. Now, some of the questions he mentioned in the in-person interview, there are a few I may have some difficulty with answering. Guess I need to do some research!

    You'd be surprised how many can't survive the lab.

    From the description in his blog, it just seems easy to me. Of course I am not in the pressure cooker actually working the lab during an interview process.

    I wouldn't mind giving it a shot just to see how I'd do.

    Like I mentioned in the blog, I'm looking for a set-based answer. 99% are a while loop.

    And Lynn... I have a special lab, just for you. Want to take it?

    Wayne
    Microsoft Certified Master: SQL Server 2008
    Author - SQL Server T-SQL Recipes


    If you can't explain to another person how the code that you're copying from the internet works, then DON'T USE IT on a production system! After all, you will be the one supporting it!
    Links:
    For better assistance in answering your questions
    Performance Problems
    Common date/time routines
    Understanding and Using APPLY Part 1 & Part 2

  • Eirikur Eiriksson (8/5/2015)


    Brandie Tarvin (8/5/2015)


    I am shattered, y'all. Just shattered.

    Romance is officially dead.

    I'll be in the back of the Tent in the Desert, crying my eyes out for a while.

    c'est la vie

    😎

    I read that it's only a marketing trick to promote their new TV show.

    Luis C.
    General Disclaimer:
    Are you seriously taking the advice and code from someone from the internet without testing it? Do you at least understand it? Or can it easily kill your server?

    How to post data/code on a forum to get the best help: Option 1 / Option 2

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