I decided to do a SQL Advent series of posts this year as well, this year I will focus on best practices. In case you are interested in last year’s posts, all of them are listed here: SQL Advent 2011 Recap

Here is what the 25 posts will look like, the order that the posts are listed is not the same that they will be posted, I will randomly pick and choose

1 Data types storage differences

2 Sargable queries

3 Recap

4 Triggers, what to do, what not to do

5 Sizing Files

6 Benefits of Indexes

7 Foreign Keys

8 Standardized naming conventions

9 Don’t trust the designers

10 Lack of constraints

11 When to say no

12 Features enabled that are not used

13 Maintenance

14 Proactive notifications

15 Reinventing the wheel

16 Loops and cursors

17 Lack of database design and normalization

18 Use the new features

19 Stay relevant and marketable

20 Get the tools you need to be more productive

21 How to get help

22 Testing a backup strategy

23 No matter how long you are on the wrong path, go back

24 With VLDBs it matters what you do and how you do it

25 How to improve your tech skills

Let me know if that list seems fine or if you would like to see something else, also let me know in which topic you have absolutely no interest in