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

Fixing regressed queries

Parameters are fundamental drivers of the query optimization process. We discussed the topic of parameter sensitivity, known as parameter sniffing, in the The importance of parameters section of Chapter 2, Understanding Query Processing, and the Query plan properties of interest section in Chapter 4, Exploring Query Execution Plans.

This brings us to the other main benefit of the Query Store: tracking plan changes over time—in other words, regressions from parameter-sensitive plans. With this exercise, we want to make sure that the volatility that can come with parameter-sensitive plans is addressed, and that the plan that is used is the one that's best for most uses, if not all. If successful, we will address the complaints we've been getting that sometimes the application just slows down for a few minutes, and then recovers.

To generate...