Last week, I noticed that I published my 250th blog post. I'm not sure if it's something to celebrate (I'm not really someone who celebrates things), but it is an extra reason to write a new post. Endurance I started writing in 2018 after Brent Ozar suggested I do this. He also told me that … Continue reading 250 blog posts
In today's cloud era, Azure SQL is usually first with new functionality, while on-premises SQL Server follows. One of the new things is the JSON data type and accompanying JSON index. Because I had to learn how JSON works in SQL Server for my DP-800 exam, I decided to see how the JSON index works … Continue reading SQL Server 2025: Testing the JSON Index
Earlier this year, Microsoft released a new certification that combines AI and SQL Server knowledge: the DP-800: Developing AI-Enabled Database Solutions. As I still deeply care about SQL Server and am convinced it has a very central place in any data architecture (cloud or on-premises), this one sparked a lot of interest. Today, I took … Continue reading DP-800 Exam Experiences
Today I had the pleasure of presenting my session on Copilot for SQL at the Data Ceili event in Dublin. Somewhere between 50 and 60 people attended, having fun and learning how this Copilot works, what it can and can't do, and, very important today, how much it will cost you. The challenge While preparing … Continue reading Speaking at Data Ceili. Or, how to work with fast-changing software in your demo
When you start using SSMS with GitHub Copilot, there is no default set of instructions in place. The agent will just sort of do what it thinks is best. But you can make sure the agent has more knowledge of your local environment (yes, it can be a cloud database as well), how it should … Continue reading SSMS 22.6: Custom Copilot instructions
The DP-800 training is new and was released to GA a few weeks ago. It now sits in the same family as DP-600 (Data Analytics using Microsoft Fabric), 700 (Data Engineering using Microsoft Fabric) and 750 (Data Engineering using Databricks). The full name of this training is "Develop AI-Enabled Database Solutions". This one sparked my … Continue reading DP-800: First Microsoft Learn experiences
A lot of you may probably know that I like the GitHub Copilot sidecar chat in SSMS, and that it can really help develop code faster. Even though you have to be aware of how the integration now handles your prompts, it remains a great help to quickly generate code. But did you know that … Continue reading SSMS 22.5 and Copilot: generate code in the query window
This three-part series of blog posts will take you along my first experiments, trials and errors using the MCP Service for SQL. This first blog will focus on the technology behind it; part 2 will focus on Azure SQL options; and the last part will dig a bit deeper into running this on your local … Continue reading SQL, Azure SQL and MCP, the Introduction
I'm guessing you've seen posts, blogs and social media activity in the last year on both Fabric SQL databases and rumours around SQL Server 2025. Today, Microsoft announced that both of these are Generally Available (GA). This means it's now fully supported by Microsoft. You can read all about this, and more, in the Ignite … Continue reading Ignite announced SQL Server 2025 and Fabric SQL GA
A few minutes ago, I came across a post on LinkedIn by Erin Stellato, highlighting the post from Makena Barickman on the release of SSMS 22, preview 3. If you've been following my blogs, you've read that I'm a keen follower of the latest editions of SSMS, especially now that Copilot is integrated. From very … Continue reading Exploring SSMS 22 Preview 3: New GitHub Copilot Features
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