Since Chrissie is playing around with Simple.Data today, I found some time to play with PetaPoco. PetaPoco is a single file micro ORM that uses MSIL generation to do it’s magic. As the name suggests, it works with concrete POCOs, though support for dynamics is also being tested. It is designed to be fast and doesn’t try to reimplement SQL, so double win in my book. PetaPoco was created by Brad Robinson (b | t).

Introduction I’m [trying out Simple.Data][1] and one of the things you always want to see from an ORM is what SQL it generates for you. Not that we don’t trust the author but still. In the case of Nhibernate is simple, you just use NHProf. For Simple.Data there is no such thing. But there is an easy way to see it by intercepting the Trace information Mark was so gentle to provide for us.

Introduction After using [NHibernate][1] and [Massive][2] there was room for yet another ORM in my life. The ORM is called [Simple.Data][3]. Simple.Data was written by [Mark Rendle][4]. Setting it up I installed these packages. Simple.Data.SqlCompact40 0.16.1.0 SqlServerCompact 4.0.8482.1 Because those were the packages that were available on Nuget. So I’m gonna test Simple.Data with the SQLserver compact edition. Simple.Data can be used with [many other databases][5] as well. And even some nosql databases.

Running static analysis checks can help keep us on track with our standards, identify unused code, identify similar code blocks, and much more. In a manual process, running these tools can be time consuming, costing time to wait for the run complete, more time if we don’t abandon them after the first run and have to maintain a schedule, and even more time if someone has to keep a spreadsheet somewhere to compare the results from run to run. Add an automated build process, and we can net the same level of information and trending for a modest setup cost.

When last weekend rolled around and the first SQL Saturday in Madison was finally ready to open the doors, I sat back for a minute and watched as attendees arrived and registration flowed. While taking that moment, something came to my mind. The best way I can translate that thought to words would be: SQL Saturday events start as an act of kindness to pool skills and knowledge into one destination so it may transfer, transform and recycle. This idea, SQL Saturday, has and is the potential to spread across the world to create and build knowledge of a mind or the world.

A conversation came up today on Twitter regarding speaker evaluations and if they should simply be handed over to the speakers or analyzed by the organizers of the event. I was one of the motivators for SQL Saturday in Madison to hand them over to the speakers. I’ll get that right out there. Now, is there a better way? Probably! In fact, I was reading (while driving, so I had little interaction) some tweets by Kendal Van Dyke (B | T). He said something about a process that the organizers or PASS can assist with electronically or such. That would be great! Although, that takes additional resources, and a lot of SQL Saturdays are stretched as it is for volunteers and resources to get something like that done the day of. Entering evaluations into an online form would be interesting, but not everyone that attends has the resources at that time either.

This post really started over fifteen years ago, if only I had known it then. You see, once upon a time I wrote a piece of code with nonsense variable names and, another time, a bunch of dynamic, inline SQL, and there was that time I tried to write half the program on one line. And lets not even get started on error messages…. Then I got better. But it took a while.

I am constantly awed and humbled by the hard work, dedication, generosity, and selflessness of the people I am surrounded with. The SQL Server community is no exception. A few months ago, I had an idea to bring a SQL Saturday to Wisconsin. Two days ago, that idea became reality with SQL Saturday #118 Wisconsin. It exceeded all my expectations. I did not do it alone, though. Thank you is not big enough for Ted Krueger (b | t), Gina Meronek (t), Leonard Murphy (t), Tim Benninghoff (t), Tony Sebion (t), Matt Cherwin (t), and Steve Novoselac (b | t). Without you, this wouldn’t have happened.

This blog is to share and highlight some of the tips and tricks that I’ve learned while using SQL Server the last few years. Some of these are code oriented, database design, or performance oriented, while others focus on personal development. Hopefully you’ll learn at least one thig from this blog. You don’t have to type out the columns If you’re using SQL Server Management Studios (SSMS) 2005 or higher, you can tell SSMS to script out select statements for you. To do this, right-click the table, go to Script Table As – Select To – New Query Editor Window . You can alternatively script to the clipboard if you already have a script open and just want to paste in there . This will open up a new window with your select statement.

Worm: The First Digital World War by Mark Bowden Do you still remember Conficker, also known as Downup, Downadup and Kido? Conficker infected between 9 million and 15 million PCs Here are just some examples that I pulled down from wikipedia Intramar, the French Navy computer network, was infected with Conficker on 15 January 2009. The network was subsequently quarantined, forcing aircraft at several airbases to be grounded because their flight plans could not be downloaded. The United Kingdom Ministry of Defence reported that some of its major systems and desktops were infected. The virus has spread across administrative offices, NavyStar/N* desktops aboard various Royal Navy warships and Royal Navy submarines, and hospitals across the city of Sheffield reported infection of over 800 computers. On 2 February 2009, the Bundeswehr, the unified armed forces of Germany reported that about one hundred of their computers were infected. An infection of Manchester City Council’s IT system caused an estimated £1.5m worth of disruption in February 2009. USB flash drives have since been banned, as this was believed to be the vector for the initial infection. I noticed the book Worm: The First Digital World War by Mark Bowden and decided to check it out since I already read Killing Pablo which was written by Mark Bowden as well