Book Image

Learn T-SQL Querying

By : Pedro Lopes, Pam Lahoud
Book Image

Learn T-SQL Querying

By: Pedro Lopes, Pam Lahoud

Overview of this book

Transact-SQL (T-SQL) is Microsoft's proprietary extension to the SQL language used with Microsoft SQL Server and Azure SQL Database. This book will be a usefu to learning the art of writing efficient T-SQL code in modern SQL Server versions as well as the Azure SQL Database. The book will get you started with query processing fundamentals to help you write powerful, performant T-SQL queries. You will then focus on query execution plans and leverage them for troubleshooting. In later chapters, you will explain how to identify various T-SQL patterns and anti-patterns. This will help you analyze execution plans to gain insights into current performance, and determine whether or not a query is scalable. You will also build diagnostic queries using dynamic management views (DMVs) and dynamic management functions (DMFs) to address various challenges in T-SQL execution. Next, you will work with the built-in tools of SQL Server to shorten the time taken to address query performance and scalability issues. In the concluding chapters, this will guide you through implementing various features, such as Extended Events, Query Store, and Query Tuning Assistant, using hands-on examples. By the end of the book, you will have developed the skills to determine query performance bottlenecks, avoid pitfalls, and discover the anti-patterns in use.
Table of Contents (18 chapters)
Free Chapter
1
Section 1: Query Processing Fundamentals
5
Section 2: Dos and Donts of T-SQL
10
Section 3: Assemble Your Query Troubleshooting Toolbox

Logical statement processing flow

When writing T-SQL, it is important to be familiar with the order in which the SQL Server Database Engine interprets queries, to later create an execution plan. This helps anticipate possible performance issues from poorly written queries. However, it also helps to understand cases of unintended results. The following steps outline the process that the database engine follows to process a T-SQL statement:

  1. Parse the query for correctness; in other words, validate the syntax.
  2. Build a structure that represents the logic of the query as expressed by the developer—a query tree, also called a sequence tree.
  3. Process all the source and target objects stated in the FROM clause (tables, views, TVFs), together with the intended logical operation (JOIN, APPLY) to perform on those objects.
  4. Apply whatever pre-filters are defined in the WHERE clause...