MS Machine Language Server for Enterprise-Grade Analytics
Mar 23,
2018
R Server is dead! Long live Machine Learning Server! The introduction of Microsoft R Server with SQL Server 2016 was tremendously exciting for data scientists and analysts working with “Big Data”. When SQL Server 2017 was released, many were shocked to see that R Server was gone. They were, however, relieved to discover that R […]
Quick Guide to SQL Server Data Types
Mar 13,
2018
Like supporting actors and actresses who never enjoy the spotlight, data types in SQL Server play critical roles and yet rarely receive attention. In fact, selecting the best data types for columns is one of the most important decisions during SQL Server table design. For that reason, let’s take a few moments to review some […]
The SQL Server Interview Questions that Matter
Feb 23,
2018
If you’re worried about interviewing for a SQL Server job, here’s some advice from the former head of an IT department on what matters (along with examples from the three critical areas where you need to have answers ready). As an instructor for Learning Tree’s Querying SQL Server 2014 and 2016 courses, I’ve worked with […]
SQL Server vNext (aka 2017) CTP2 Includes Python Scripting
Nov 22,
2017
More Analytic Excitement in SQL Server 2017 Last week (the third week in April 2017) Microsoft released its Community Technology Preview 2.0 for SQL Server vNext, more often referred to as simply “SQL Server 2017”. Among the many new features of interest to business intelligence analysts, data scientists, and machine learning aficionados is support for […]
Subqueries, Real and Apparent
Nov 1,
2017
Part III – A Look at a “Physical” Subquery Perhaps I am being a little loose in my terminology, since there really isn’t a query operator called “subquery”. When I say “physical subquery” I am referring to those correlated subqueries where the subquery portion must be executed again and again, once for every row returned […]