Book Image

Learn T-SQL Querying - Second Edition

By : Pedro Lopes, Pam Lahoud
Book Image

Learn T-SQL Querying - Second Edition

By: Pedro Lopes, Pam Lahoud

Overview of this book

Data professionals seeking to excel in Transact-SQL (T-SQL) for Microsoft SQL Server and Azure SQL Database often lack comprehensive resources. This updated second edition of Learn T-SQL Querying focuses on indexing queries and crafting elegant T-SQL code, catering to all data professionals seeking mastery in modern SQL Server versions and Azure SQL Database. Starting with query processing fundamentals, this book lays a solid foundation for writing performant T-SQL queries. You’ll explore the mechanics of the Query Optimizer and Query Execution Plans, learning how to analyze execution plans for insights into current performance and scalability. Through dynamic management views (DMVs) and dynamic management functions (DMFs), you’ll build diagnostic queries. This book thoroughly covers indexing for T-SQL performance and provides insights into SQL Server’s built-in tools for expedited resolution of query performance and scalability issues. Further, hands-on examples will guide you through implementing features such as avoiding UDF pitfalls, understanding predicate SARGability, Query Store, and Query Tuning Assistant. By the end of this book, you‘ll have developed the ability to identify query performance bottlenecks, recognize anti-patterns, and skillfully avoid such pitfalls.
Table of Contents (18 chapters)
1
Part 1: Query Processing Fundamentals
4
Part 2: Dos and Don’ts of T-SQL
9
Part 3: Assembling Our Query Troubleshooting Toolbox

Cached query plan issues

As we discussed earlier in the sys.dm_exec_query_stats section, the SQL Database Engine maintains execution statistics for all the queries that are currently in the cache. There is a wealth of information in this DMV that we can use to troubleshoot several different query performance-related issues. We will cover a few issues here, but be sure to reference the BPCheck script in the Tiger Toolbox (https://aka.ms/bpcheck) for a more comprehensive example of queries to identify these scenarios and others.

Single-use plans (query fingerprints)

In the EXECUTE vs. sp_executesql section of Chapter 5, Writing Elegant T-SQL Queries, we discussed how to send ad hoc T-SQL queries to the SQL Database Engine in a way that allows for plan reuse (also see the Plan caching and re-use section in Chapter 1, Understanding Query Processing, for the importance of plan reuse). If we are not sure whether or not our application is successfully parameterizing queries and leveraging...