There is a plethora of new T-SQL features and enhancements in SQL Server 2005 and you could probably write a small book talking about all of them.  However, this article will focus on one of them, specifically, Common Table Expressions because personally they have come in handy on many occasions.

I have used a few of the other new features and enhancements and if you have not had a chance to delve into any of them, I would highly recommend familiarizing yourself with some of them, such as the new xml data type, improved error handling, query and event notifications, new DDL (Data Definition Language) triggers, ranking functions, TOP operator enhancements, the PIVOT and UNPIVOT operators, and the new APPLY operator.  There are a few others and they all add tremendous value to T-SQL developers.

This article will introduce common table expressions and go as in-depth as space will allow, showing how CTE’s can be used to improve TSQL’s capabilities and how they can help better your T-SQL.

Today’s column has caused quite a stir within the SQL Server community.  I’m not a DBA by any stretch of the imagination but there are many DBA’s who hit the panic button as soon as they found out that Microsoft was integrating the CLR into SQL Server 2005.  For them, this meant anywhere from T-SQL being replaced to giving the application developers free reign to the database and everything in between.  Fortunately, none of this is true.  This article will discuss the integration of the CLR in SQL Server 2005 and what that means for both DBA’s and .NET developers alike.

The purpose of this article is to demonstrate how to create a simple composite server control for ASP.Net 2.0.  Just as important, or more importantly, it demonstrates the benefits of creating your own custom server controls.  I will demonstrate these points by walking through a simple example scenario where the task is accomplished without the use of a custom control.  We will then turn the solution into a custom server control that can be reused throughout our sites and across various other projects where such functionality would be useful.

Whether you are looking for that dream job or are just trying to get a pay raise or promotion, there are 10 things you can do to improve your chances. In general these 10 things fall into 2 categories; the first is building your portfolio and the second is in building your network.