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  • http://www.SQLskills.com/blogs/Kimberly Kimberly L. Tripp

    Hey there John – Great post and advice. I’d probably even add that some tests are fairly narrow (or against very specific types of data – of even quantities of data)… so, instead posting something like “XYZ is the best way to do something” (as a general practice) it’s always better to try and state as many of the conditions that were true – that led to the numbers/discovery. SQL Server is a myriad of “it depends” scenarios and that’s what makes it so darn powerful. It’s a *general purpose* relational database management system and as such – incredibly flexible. In the end, I think it makes it even harder to blog good posts but these posts that give specifics and debate their own points (and offer options) will always be WAY more helpful!

    All too often I’ve seen specific (and very narrow) tests over generalize a gain…and then people take it as a general best practice when it’s probably not… that can lead to all sorts of problems!

    Nice post!

    Cheers!
    kt

    • http://www.johnsansom.com John Sansom

      Hey Kimberly, great points! Thanks for sharing them.

      I wonder if perhaps a good technical blog post should almost adopt a scientific approach/structure to presenting the topic.

      Cheers!

  • http://www.michaeljswart.com Michael J Swart

    Hear hear,
    and I invite you and anyone who reads my own stuff, to call me on stuff that is less that might be less than 100% accurate (B.S. in other words).

    And I’ll try to do the same for you and others (tactfully of course) :-)

    Cheers,

    • http://www.michaeljswart.com Michael J Swart

      … I mean if the occasion were to hypothetically ever come up.

    • http://www.johnsansom.com John Sansom

      I’m with you on this one.

      If I’m being honest with myself (rare moment), I would be a fool if I were to believe that I will never make a mistake or provide an inaccurate assumption at some point.

      In the highly unlikely event however, that I were to say post inaccurate information, I would be very appreciative of the individual that brought it to my attention. They would be enabling me to make amends for the benefit of both myself and most importantly other readers.

      I want to be part of a collaborative community that grows and excels together.

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  • tnk7200

    good tips. John, what do you think of people claim to be experts?

    I’m a newcomer to this database world, but I always like to test out the tips/advices on my test environment first, and do the research before jumping on the bandwagon. However, It’s hard for people to check the fact because they are not expertise in the subjects.

    thanks!

    • http://www.johnsansom.com John Sansom

      Testing is both an excellent and essential habit to form.

      I believe that a DBA should test each and every change they plan to implement, irrespective of the source of the knowledge that drives it. You can then be confident of the results to expect, as well as confirming your own understanding of how things work.

      It’s also worth noting that every scenario is different, so don’t just apply “Best Practice” for the sake of it. Prove and validate that it’s the best course of action for your specific needs though testing.

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