Are the posted questions getting worse?

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Are the posted questions getting worse?

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Paul White SSC Guru Points: 150467 More actions · Answer 1

Is there an award for writing the world's worst procedure?

If so, this is a real contender:

http://www.sqlservercentral.com/Forums/Topic910833-392-1.aspx

I just don't know where to start with a reply.

Paul White
SQLPerformance.com
SQLkiwi blog
@SQL_Kiwi

TomThomson SSC Guru Points: 104773 More actions · Answer 2

Paul White NZ (4/27/2010)
Is there an award for writing the world's worst procedure?
If so, this is a real contender:
http://www.sqlservercentral.com/Forums/Topic910833-392-1.aspx
I just don't know where to start with a reply.

I sympathise with that!

But it can't be the world's worst procedure. It doesn't have 17 simultaneously open dynamic cursors and 30 while loops in a nest 7 loops deep intermeshed with a maze of flagsetting logic controlling where BREAK or CONTINUE happens. Of course it scores high on other bits of frightfulness, but the absence of bizarre flasetting, cursors, and while-loops disqualifies it.

Tom

Grant Fritchey SSC Guru Points: 398890 More actions · Answer 3

Paul White NZ (4/27/2010)
Is there an award for writing the world's worst procedure?
If so, this is a real contender:
http://www.sqlservercentral.com/Forums/Topic910833-392-1.aspx
I just don't know where to start with a reply.

That's not even in the top 10. It's almost, almost, straight forward compared to some of the insanity I've seen at my company. No temp tables or table variables, let alone both, and yeah, no cursors. This almost makes sense.

"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

jcrawf02 SSC-Insane Points: 24198 More actions · Answer 4

Found another example [/url]of someone re-posting an article in its entirety on their blog. Not a summary, not a reference to go read it, actually a copy/paste on their blog.

They did link the article in the title, but still, it looks as if they wrote it.

How many must be doing this if I can just stumble across it on an article that's less than three days old? Unbelievable.

---------------------------------------------------------
How best to post your question[/url]
How to post performance problems[/url]
Tally Table:What it is and how it replaces a loop[/url]

"stewsterl 80804 (10/16/2009)I guess when you stop and try to understand the solution provided you not only learn, but save yourself some headaches when you need to make any slight changes."

Paul White SSC Guru Points: 150467 More actions · Answer 5

Grant Fritchey (4/27/2010)
That's not even in the top 10. It's almost, almost, straight forward compared to some of the insanity I've seen at my company. No temp tables or table variables, let alone both, and yeah, no cursors. This almost makes sense.

Good reply on the thread - thanks - I was really stuck.

I might add something regarding implementing queues and using EXISTS in a bit.

Code like that really scares me much more than temporary tables or cursors.

Paul White
SQLPerformance.com
SQLkiwi blog
@SQL_Kiwi

Grant Fritchey SSC Guru Points: 398890 More actions · Answer 6

Paul White NZ (4/27/2010)
Grant Fritchey (4/27/2010)
That's not even in the top 10. It's almost, almost, straight forward compared to some of the insanity I've seen at my company. No temp tables or table variables, let alone both, and yeah, no cursors. This almost makes sense.
Good reply on the thread - thanks - I was really stuck.
I might add something regarding implementing queues and using EXISTS in a bit.
Code like that really scares me much more than temporary tables or cursors.

Thanks. I just barely scratched the surface for what could be wrong in that mess, but a few points jumped out, so I tried to say something marginally intelligible about them.

"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

GabyYYZ SSCertifiable Points: 7913 More actions · Answer 7

Paul White NZ (4/27/2010)
Is there an award for writing the world's worst procedure?
If so, this is a real contender:
http://www.sqlservercentral.com/Forums/Topic910833-392-1.aspx
I just don't know where to start with a reply.

I was copying over some stored procs from a production environment to stage, and one of them was something like this:

create procedure ProcName

as

return (0);

go

Aaaarrrrgggghhh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

edit: removed some exclamation points and kept my shock lower case. Unfortunately it's no longer that shocking.

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

Roy Ernest SSC-Dedicated Points: 38780 More actions · Answer 8

I guess our production SPs are better. I do see lots of temp tables in the report server. Other than that, it all looks Ok.. Lucky Me...!!!! 🙂

-Roy

SQLRNNR SSC Guru Points: 281334 More actions · Answer 9

jcrawf02 (4/27/2010)
Found another example [/url]of someone re-posting an article in its entirety on their blog. Not a summary, not a reference to go read it, actually a copy/paste on their blog.
They did link the article in the title, but still, it looks as if they wrote it.
How many must be doing this if I can just stumble across it on an article that's less than three days old? Unbelievable.

Posers.

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

Trey Staker SSCarpal Tunnel Points: 4796 More actions · Answer 10

Paul White NZ (4/27/2010)
Is there an award for writing the world's worst procedure?
If so, this is a real contender:
http://www.sqlservercentral.com/Forums/Topic910833-392-1.aspx
I just don't know where to start with a reply.

I can't say much because I'm still on a non-disclosure but that looks fairly similiar to 3/4 of the stored procedures I had to work with in a previous job. 🙁 :pinch:

I always take the approach that I do with camping, I try and leave the place in better shape then what it was when I arrived.

EDIT: I fixed my grammer a bit.

---------------------------------------------------------------------
Use Full Links:
KB Article from Microsoft on how to ask a question on a Forum

jcrawf02 SSC-Insane Points: 24198 More actions · Answer 11

Trey Staker (4/27/2010)
I always take the approach that I do with camping,

aww, golden opportunity missed.

revised edition:

"I always take the approach that I do with camping, I dig a hole and @#$% in it" :w00t::hehe:

---------------------------------------------------------
How best to post your question[/url]
How to post performance problems[/url]
Tally Table:What it is and how it replaces a loop[/url]

"stewsterl 80804 (10/16/2009)I guess when you stop and try to understand the solution provided you not only learn, but save yourself some headaches when you need to make any slight changes."

Roy Ernest SSC-Dedicated Points: 38780 More actions · Answer 12

jcrawf02 (4/27/2010)
Trey Staker (4/27/2010)
I always take the approach that I do with camping,
aww, golden opportunity missed.
revised edition:
"I always take the approach that I do with camping, I dig a hole and @#$% in it" :w00t::hehe:

Add this part as well please...

"And close the hole back..." :hehe:

-Roy

Jeff Moden SSC Guru Points: 1004378 More actions · Answer 13

Steve Jones - Editor (4/26/2010)
On plagiarism, my alma mater has some free software:http://digg.com/u1UU6a. I could host something using this if someone wants to help code.

Sorry Steve... I'm missing it... "help code" with what? A site that would help find plagerism of articles?

--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)

Adam Machanic SSCoach Points: 15370 More actions · Answer 14

Jeff Moden (4/27/2010)
Steve Jones - Editor (4/26/2010)
On plagiarism, my alma mater has some free software:http://digg.com/u1UU6a. I could host something using this if someone wants to help code.
Sorry Steve... I'm missing it... "help code" with what? A site that would help find plagerism of articles?

I'm interested in helping code such a site, but I don't think that program will help:

What WCopyfind cannot do: It cannot search the web or internet to find matching documents for you. You must specify which documents it compares.

What I personally would like is a tool that can search the Web.

--
Adam Machanic
whoisactive

The Dixie Flatline SSC Guru Points: 53354 More actions · Answer 15

What Jeff said. The problem is finding the documents out on the web to compare. I've heard that many schools subscribe to a service that looks for plagiarized content on the web. I'll try to find out the name of the service, if you want, Steve.

With respect to how much plagiarism goes on and where, all I can say is the sheer number of plagiarized articles at the Hyderabad site suggests an epidemic within that community of users. I will not impute that bad behavior to the site administrators, or to anyone who published original content there, but there is no arguing that there was a LOT of stolen content there. I have no idea about how many different people contributed ripped-off articles. If it was only one guy plagiarizing twenty different articles that's a different story than a dozen people each plagiarizing one or two articles.

I sometimes wonder if this kind of behavior spreads by word of mouth. Someone plagiarizes, gets a job or a reputation because of it, and then brags to his buddies about it. They think "I gotta try that." and the epidemic is on. That could explain the rash of homework/final project questions we see several times a year.

Apologies are okay, but corrective action is better, and it appears that is being taken. I believe the individuals who were caught stealing others' work deserve to have their reputations flushed down the toilet. If you will lie to get a job, then you will lie on the job.

__________________________________________________

Against stupidity the gods themselves contend in vain. -- Friedrich Schiller
Stop, children, what's that sound? Everybody look what's going down. -- Stephen Stills