Cool SQL Server Features Everyone Should Know About

by David Berry

Sat, Apr 22, 2017
Room: P0806 A&B
Time: 15:00

We all use SQL Server every day in our jobs, so it pays to know what SQL Server can do for us that will make our jobs easier. This talk will introduce you to some key features of SQL Server that you might not know about but will definitely want to use once you learn about them. First, we’ll discuss temporal tables, which provide a convenient way to track all of the changes made to data in a table. Second, we’ll talk about the JSON support built into SQL Server 2016 and what capabilities it provides us. Third, we’ll cover some advanced SQL constructs like the MERGE statement and Common Table Expressions that can make the SQL you write simpler. And finally, we’ll wrap up by talking about the windowing functions in SQL Server, which provide powerful analytic capabilities to our SQL Statements. After this talk, you will better appreciate some of the rich functionality built into SQL Server and understand how to use these capabilities to make your job easier.

About the Author

I'm a Solutions Architect with over 20 years of experience in building software systems. I started out as a Java developer and then switched to .NET in 2003. I've also done significant work with SQL Server and Oracle. I'm a Pluralsight author and I have presented talks at That Conference, Iowa Code Camp, Twin Cities Code Camp, Fox Valley .NET Users Group and the Cedar Rapids .NET Users Group. In addition to my Pluralsight coursework and speaking experience, I've done lots of work in helping to mentor others in how to design and build better software systems. I try to bring a pragmatic approach to everything I do, making sure the software I build is simple, understandable and balances responsibilities between different components of the system. When speaking or teaching, I emphasize real world scenarios encountered by developers every day and show how to solve them so you can be more effective at what you do.