New Column in Database Journal

In an earlier post, I commented that I have been "looking for alternatives" in my writing. Well, I found it.

Starting January 29, 2007, I will be writing a "column" for Database Journal. Committing to write a column for them means that I will be writing a series of articles about a specific subject. My first series is called "SqlCredit – Developing a Complete SQL Server OLTP Database Project".

I am really looking forward to this.

TSqlTest - "RTM"

After developing it, using it, and refining it for years, I have finally released my SQL Server testing framework into the wild. It is available now at http://www.tsqltest.org/.

Source Control is Your Friend

I use source control religiously in my development. I would never think of writing code without saving it in a source control system and checking in "early and often".

So why was I hand-editing the template for my blog without first saving the old version? Misplaced confidence, that's why. Of course I made one too many changes and completely screwed it up.

Since I had no source, I had to rebuild it from another blog's template. It is now under source control.

This is a lesson I learned many years ago. I just keep learning it over and over.

Rob

Back from PASS 2006

I had a great time at PASS 2006. The classes were great. The keynotes were great. I got to have lunch with two great people from Microsoft, Cihangir Biyikoglu (Cihan) and Ward Pond.

I have been working with Cihan for quite awhile now and always value his knowledge and advice. His class on Friday was very well attended and quite interesting.

I had been reading Ward's blog but had never met him. I just commented in his blog that I would like to meet him. We spent an hour and a half talking Friday at lunch about design, Microsoft, the plight of development-focused database people*, and many other topics.

Overall, it was a great week and definitely worth all the money Corillian paid for me to be there.

Rob

* The question: Why do so many organizations have database administrators to clean up the problems in their databases. Why not just hire more (and/or better) database developers so that the databases are designed and programmed better? Then there wouldn't be such a mess to clean up.

Is SqlJunkies.com Abandoned?

So much for my idea of continuing to write for SqlJunkies.com. All indications are that the site has been abandoned. I sent e-mail to someone at CMP Media, but I have not received a response.

So, I am looking for alternatives. I do want to continue to write for someone.

Wish me luck.

Rob

Writing Frustration

I have been frustrated trying to decide whether I should start a blog or continue writing articles for SqlJunkies.com. The reason I don't like blogs is that there is no barrier to entry. Anyone can write anything and post it on a blog. Is it worth reading? No matter; it gets posted on the vast Internet anyway.

When you want to publish to a magazine, even an on-line magazine, there is an expectation that you have done a good amount of research and testing before publishing.

So, I plan to continue to write for SqlJunkies, but I have now caved and started a blog. We'll see where it goes.

Rob