Look, we've all been there. You write what seems like a perfectly reasonable query, hit F5, and then... nothing happens. Or worse, everything happens, including your phone blowing up with angry users.
This course will teach you how T-SQL actually works, not just how the docs say it works. Designed specifically for folks bridging the gap from novice to intermediate, you'll learn to write queries that don't make your server cry or your users wonder if they've made a huge mistake.
I've packed over 24 hours of streaming video content (complete with scripts and slides!) with all the stuff I wish I'd known when I first opened SQL Server Management Studio back in 2008. This treasure trove works with SQL Server 2016+, Azure SQL Database, and Azure SQL Managed Instance.
What's on the menu? All the fundamentals explained in plain English:
The SELECT statement that does more than just "select everything"
JOINs that actually make sense (and don't accidentally create cartesian products)
Subqueries and table expressions that solve problems instead of creating them
Window functions without the headache
Basic transactions that don't lock up the entire database
Data modifications that don't leave your tables looking like abstract art
Perfect for folks who know enough T-SQL to be dangerous (to their own servers) but want to level up to the kind of queries that make your DBA send you thank-you notes instead of passive-aggressive monitoring alerts.
You'll gain insights into relational theory, query optimization, and set-based thinking – all explained like you're a human, not a computer.
Ready to write T-SQL that doesn't make users wonder if they've made a huge mistake?
Let's do this!
In this section we'll cover data modifications in T-SQL:
INSERT
Identity
Sequence
DELETE
TRUNCATE
UPDATE
MERGE
OUTPUT
Very few areas of databases in general, but SQL Server in particular, suffer as many misconceptions and outright misinformation as these. Developers seem to maintain these nagging mental injuries, like row versioning isolation levels allow dirty reads, or locking isolation levels guarantee snapshot-type consistency of reads, that are simply wrong. In these modules, I'm going to show you the truth.
SQL is for queries, not programming! Well, kind of. Turns out, you can do a lot whole of procedural programming in your declarative language. In these modules, I'll cover all the major types of modules you can create, along with things like cursors, loops, control-flow logic, dynamic SQL, and temporary objects. Get ready for fun.
If you've completed Starting T-SQL Querying, or you're already ahead of the game, this course will bring you from intermediate to advanced. You'll be writing the kinds of queries that astound and amaze.
Let's face it - anyone can write a query that returns results... eventually. But you're ready to go beyond "it works" to "holy cow, how did you do that so fast?!"
This advanced course dives deep into the dark arts of query optimization and techniques that separate the SQL pros from the SQL posers. We're talking about the stuff that makes other developers stare at your code in silent awe (or possibly confusion, but we'll call it awe).
Over 24+ hours of hard-earned wisdom, I'll share:
Query plan analysis that reveals what SQL Server is actually doing behind the scenes
Index strategies that turn table scans into precision strikes
Advanced join techniques that make complex data relationships look simple
Memory optimization tricks that keep your server purring instead of paging
Query rewrites that can turn minutes into milliseconds
Real-world optimization case studies where I've turned database dumpster fires into finely-tuned machines
We'll focus heavily on the written query - because even with the fanciest hardware in the world, a poorly written query can bring a server to its knees. And let's be honest, blaming the hardware is getting old, isn't it?
Compatible with SQL Server 2016+, Azure SQL Database, and Azure SQL Managed Instance, this course builds on the foundation you've established and takes your T-SQL skills to levels that might make your coworkers slightly uncomfortable.
Ready to become the query performance hero your database deserves? Let's write some seriously impressive T-SQL.
In this section, I'll be covering how written query forms impact query shapes in often unfortunate ways.
In this module we'll be covering the details of different storage formats in SQL Server:
Heaps
Clustered tables
Nonclustered Indexes
Column Store
Partitioned Tables
Partitioned Column Store
Partitioned Views
NULLable columns
Some specialty data storage that you should probably know about, separate from the stuff covered in the previous modules.
These videos focus on aligning and designing queries in index to affect all sorts of useful things. Performance, memory grants, and more!
Oh, you've got data. Date data. Time data. Datetime data. Maybe even Datetime2 data.
In these modules, I'm going to show you horrible things, and how to avoid them.
I'm also going to cover dealing with time zones in a way that won't drive you crazy bananas.
These modules seek to further tie the query you write to the plan and performance that you get. We'll be covering an array of important topics around making queries go faster by changing the way queries are written, tricks for making queries more Batch Mode friendly, and the all-important row goal.