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

Getting up and running with XEvent Profiler

Those of us who have been working with SQL Server for some time are likely to have experience with SQL Server Profiler. Profiler is a tool that has been around since the early versions of SQL Server and leverages the SQL Trace infrastructure to provide event-based monitoring of SQL Server. While it has been deprecated since SQL Server 2012, many users still prefer it over XEvents due to its ease of use, familiarity, and the rich set of tools that have been built over the years to capture, analyze, and replay trace data.

While SQL Server Profiler is still available in the product, its use has declined over the years as XEvents gained feature parity. Starting with SQL Server 2012, all the events that can be captured with Profiler can also be captured with XEvents, and with less overhead on the server. In fact, XEvents have a much wider range of events than Profiler and a rich set of actions that can be captured along with the events to provide...