Are the posted questions getting worse?

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Are the posted questions getting worse?

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Alvin Ramard SSC-Forever Points: 41190 More actions · Answer 1

Lynn Pettis (6/4/2009)
Alvin Ramard (6/4/2009)
WayneS (6/4/2009)
Hey friends, please help me out here. I'd really like to have an understanding of why this changed.
Thanks!
You can get points quickly if you ask questions here instead of using BOL.
Hey Alvin! Is this really the quote you wanted?? 😉

Of course not!

I was trying to quote Roys comment about the OP who did n't know how to use BOL having 385 points.

I could swear I hit refresh before replying. I guess someone posted something right after.

Alvin Ramard
Memphis PASS Chapter[/url]

All my SSC forum answers come with a money back guarantee. If you didn't like the answer then I'll gladly refund what you paid for it.

For best practices on asking questions, please read the following article: Forum Etiquette: How to post data/code on a forum to get the best help[/url]

Jeff Moden SSC Guru Points: 1004365 More actions · Answer 2

Adam Machanic (6/4/2009)
I assume you don't need to do this with more than 2 billion rows!

You've never seen the love-of-my-life's checkbook, have you? 😛

A bit more information here:

http://sqlblog.com/blogs/adam_machanic/archive/2006/10/03/exploring-the-secrets-of-intermediate-materialization.aspx%5B/url%5D%5B/quote%5D

Cool... I'll take a look. Thanks, Adam.

--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)

Alvin Ramard SSC-Forever Points: 41190 More actions · Answer 3

Jeff Moden (6/4/2009)
You've never seen the love-of-my-life's checkbook, have you? 😛

Is she the one the Eagles wrote "Take it to the limit" for?

Alvin Ramard
Memphis PASS Chapter[/url]

All my SSC forum answers come with a money back guarantee. If you didn't like the answer then I'll gladly refund what you paid for it.

For best practices on asking questions, please read the following article: Forum Etiquette: How to post data/code on a forum to get the best help[/url]

Jeff Moden SSC Guru Points: 1004365 More actions · Answer 4

Alvin Ramard (6/4/2009)
Jeff Moden (6/4/2009)
You've never seen the love-of-my-life's checkbook, have you? 😛
Is she the one the Eagles wrote "Take it to the limit" for?

Heh... no. She's actually quite frugal (thank goodness!). But, she'll write a check to buy chewing gum. 😛

--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)

Alvin Ramard SSC-Forever Points: 41190 More actions · Answer 5

Jeff Moden (6/4/2009)
Alvin Ramard (6/4/2009)
Jeff Moden (6/4/2009)
You've never seen the love-of-my-life's checkbook, have you? 😛
Is she the one the Eagles wrote "Take it to the limit" for?
Heh... no. She's actually quite frugal (thank goodness!). But, she'll write a check to buy chewing gum. 😛

Someone needs to sell chewable checks. hmmmm, wonder if they would bounce better?

😎

Alvin Ramard
Memphis PASS Chapter[/url]

All my SSC forum answers come with a money back guarantee. If you didn't like the answer then I'll gladly refund what you paid for it.

For best practices on asking questions, please read the following article: Forum Etiquette: How to post data/code on a forum to get the best help[/url]

GabyYYZ SSCertifiable Points: 7913 More actions · Answer 6

And now for something completely different...

I'm visiting Amsterdam this December, staying with a sister. I'm not Dutch but was wondering what some great places to visit outside Amsterdam would be. I've been there before but never really been outside the city itself, which is beautiful in and of itself.

Anything fun I should see at least once in the rest of the country occurring around the second half of December?

Gaby________________________________________________________________"In theory, theory and practice are the same. In practice, they are not." - Albert Einstein

Jan Van der Eecken SSCrazy Eights Points: 9029 More actions · Answer 7

Gaby Abed (6/4/2009)
And now for something completely different...
I'm visiting Amsterdam this December, staying with a sister. I'm not Dutch but was wondering what some great places to visit outside Amsterdam would be. I've been there before but never really been outside the city itself, which is beautiful in and of itself.
Anything fun I should see at least once in the rest of the country occurring around the second half of December?

Gaby, one thing you should see is the inside of a heated room. Not really kidding. Although it doesn't quite get as cold as in other places in Europe, the humidity and windchill factor in that part of the world in December can be quite hard on your body.

OK. I can't give advise about Amsterdam's surrounds (will be there in 3 weeks time, would love to see it eventually, but plane schedule doesn't quite work out, late arrival from Vienna and early morning flight back to South Africa), but if I may suggest (since I was born south of the border) that you take a fast train down to Belgium. Lots of ancient cities, well preserved. Especially Ghent and Bruges (I'm not impartial on the latter one since that's my Mother City). Brussels and Antwerp aren't without charm either. And while you're on the train, why not extend your trip to Paris? If I'm not too badly informed it is a comfortable 2 1/2 hour trip from Amsterdam.

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Paul White SSC Guru Points: 150467 More actions · Answer 8

WayneS (6/4/2009)
Paul White (6/3/2009)
One thing to mention is that the article is the first of a series
Well, actually it's the second in a series.

The magazine I just had delivered (electronically) has "...this article is the first of several articles..." in the opening paragraph...?

/confused

Paul White
SQLPerformance.com
SQLkiwi blog
@SQL_Kiwi

Paul White SSC Guru Points: 150467 More actions · Answer 9

Jeff Moden (6/4/2009)
There was some really cool things I was going to show about the Clustered Index but guess folks will just have to wait for the "book" now. 😛

Don't be a tease!

😀

Paul White
SQLPerformance.com
SQLkiwi blog
@SQL_Kiwi

Paul White SSC Guru Points: 150467 More actions · Answer 10

Jeff Moden (6/4/2009)
I believe that you'll find that the index hint is absolutely NOT necessary. In fact, the only reason I really include it is to help prevent the handrail problem. 😛

Agreed. I have never seen an update plan that doesn't insist on updating in clustered index order.

Jeff Moden (6/4/2009)
To wit, I agree that the ordered CTE works in the absence of a clustered index but you might want to try the ordered CTE in the presence of an clustered index that ISN'T in the correct order for the running total update.

The last time I tried this, the 'intermediate materialization' forced a sort as one would expect, but the QO inserted a later sort to ensure updates were performed in clustered index order.

Paul White
SQLPerformance.com
SQLkiwi blog
@SQL_Kiwi

WayneS SSC Guru Points: 95460 More actions · Answer 11

Paul White (6/4/2009)
WayneS (6/4/2009)
Paul White (6/3/2009)
One thing to mention is that the article is the first of a series
Well, actually it's the second in a series.
The magazine I just had delivered (electronically) has "...this article is the first of several articles..." in the opening paragraph...?
/confused

From the article from the May issue (Subqueries & Joins for Running Aggregates):

Running aggregates are calculations that are commonly used for data analysis. This article is the first of several articles covering various techniques to calculate running aggregates with a focus on performance. I’ll discuss how to analyze the complexity of a solution, as well as explain how to predict performance changes based on changing variables in the data or the solution. This article focuses on set-based solutions using subqueries and joins.

From the article from the June issue (Set-Based vs. Cursor-Based Solutions for Running Aggregates):

Last month I started a series of articles that explore the performance aspects and algorithmic complexity of different solutions to running aggregations. I covered two set-based solutions—one using subqueries and another using joins. (See "Subqueries and Joins for Running Aggregates.") This month I cover a solution based on cursors.

Note: emphasis (bold) mine.

I was refering to the June (2nd) article.

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

Paul White SSC Guru Points: 150467 More actions · Answer 12

Adam Machanic (6/4/2009)
Should work with either a derived table or CTE (although I prefer the latter for readability) -- the key is making sure you use TOP(number), not TOP 100 PERCENT. A change in the optimizer in SQL Server 2005 is that it will optimize TOP 100 PERCENT right out of derived tables, CTEs, or views. The same cannot be done for TOP(number), because the optimizer doesn't know how many rows there might be. So I use TOP(2147483647). I assume you don't need to do this with more than 2 billion rows!
http://sqlblog.com/blogs/adam_machanic/archive/2006/10/03/exploring-the-secrets-of-intermediate-materialization.aspx

Wow that link brought back some memories - I thought I recognised the term intermediate materialization!

BTW I recently got into the habit of using TOP (9223372036854775807) - partly because it looks kinda cool (to me), and partly to remind myself that the native type for TOP expressions is BIGINT. I have yet to exceed the two billion-odd rows covered by max-INT, but hey.

Paul White
SQLPerformance.com
SQLkiwi blog
@SQL_Kiwi

Paul White SSC Guru Points: 150467 More actions · Answer 13

WayneS (6/4/2009)
...stuff..

Well that sucks - I just got the May edition in my inbox yesterday. Where's my June copy??? Grrr!

Thanks Wayne, I will look forward to receiving the second part at some stage.

Actually, do you have a link? I should be able to access it...

Paul White
SQLPerformance.com
SQLkiwi blog
@SQL_Kiwi

WayneS SSC Guru Points: 95460 More actions · Answer 14

Paul White (6/4/2009)
WayneS (6/4/2009)
...stuff..
Well that sucks - I just got the May edition in my inbox yesterday. Where's my June copy??? Grrr!
Thanks Wayne, I will look forward to receiving the second part at some stage.
Actually, do you have a link? I should be able to access it...

http://www.sqlmag.com/Articles/ArticleID/101736/101736.html

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

Paul White SSC Guru Points: 150467 More actions · Answer 15

WayneS (6/4/2009)
http://www.sqlmag.com/Articles/ArticleID/101736/101736.html

Thanks! I should have checked the site myself - apologies for being lazy 🙁

Paul White
SQLPerformance.com
SQLkiwi blog
@SQL_Kiwi