Kevin Goff
CODE Author
Kevin S. Goff, a Microsoft MVP, wrote The Baker's Dozen productivity series in CODE Magazine from 2004 - 2019, and in 2020 he began the Stages of Data productivity series in CODE Magazine.
Kevin has been an applications developer, architect, and technology mentor since 1987. Kevin has worked in many lines of business, including insurance, manufacturing, health care, consumer packaged goods, accounting and finance, advertising, and many others. Along the way, Kevin has won several awards in both the public and private sector for applications development. Additionally, Kevin has taught SQL Server, Business Intelligence, and Data Warehousing classes to hundreds of students over a period of five years and has built numerous custom courseware modules along the way.
Kevin has authored one book on reporting development and contributed chapters on MDX programming to a second book. He is currently developing a set of commercial video training courses for SQL Server and BI topics. He has been a SQL Server MVP since 2010 and was previously a .NET/C# MVP from 2005 to 2009.
Kevin is a frequent speaker at User Group and other community events (SQL Saturday, SharePoint Saturday, Code Camp) in the Mid-Atlantic region, and speaks occasionally at conferences. In 2012 Kevin worked with Microsoft TechNet Radio on a 13 week webcast series on new features in SQL Server 2012.
For more information, check out Kevin’s main site at http://www.KevinSGoff.net, or email him at kgoff@kevinsgoff.net
Contact Information:
- Email: kgoff@eps-software.com
- Phone: (484) 951-5700
Articles Authored
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A SQL Programming Puzzle: You Never Stop Learning
Last updated: Thursday, May 6, 2021
Published in: CODE Magazine: 2018 - January/February
Kevin learns the hard way how to estimate a process’ duration and he uses a clever bit of code to figure it out.
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Baker's Dozen--Business Intelligence Developers
Last updated: Monday, December 27, 2021
Published in: CODE Magazine: 2014 - March/April
If you want to be a great SQL Server developer, you’ll want to pay attention to these 13 key points. Kevin Goff covers both best practices and common pitfalls of Business Intelligence.
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Better Extract/Transform/Load (ETL) Practices in Data Warehousing (Part 2 of 2)
Last updated: Thursday, April 29, 2021
Published in: CODE Magazine: 2018 - March/April
Kevin shows us how to solve tangles in SQL Server, and in this article, he looks at some questions that have come up since his last article on ETL practices in Data Warehousing.
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MVP Corner: A Baker’s Dozen of Reflections
Last updated: Tuesday, February 19, 2019
Published in: CODE Magazine: 2006 - November/December
November/December 06 MVP Corner
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MVP Corner: 13 Steps for Building an Article
Last updated: Tuesday, February 19, 2019
Published in: CODE Magazine: 2007 - July/August
July/August 2007 MVP Corner
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MVP Corner: A Baker’s Dozen of Reflections
Last updated: Tuesday, February 19, 2019
Published in: CODE Magazine: 2008 - July/August
July August 2008 MVP Corner by Kevin S. Goff
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MVP Corner: Leadership Is a Verb, Not a Noun
Last updated: Tuesday, February 19, 2019
Published in: CODE Magazine: 2011 - September/October
Recently I accepted a management/leadership position, one where I can be the proverbial “player-coach.” It’s a position I’ve actually been doing for some time, and it’s now official.
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Refactoring a Reporting Services Report with Some SQL Magic
Last updated: Monday, April 26, 2021
Published in: CODE Magazine: 2018 - May/June
The point of showing data in graphical form is to make things clear, right? Keven shows you how the best of intentions can go wrong and how to repair the damage.
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SQL Server Reporting Services: Eight Power Tips
Last updated: Friday, May 7, 2021
Published in: CODE Magazine: 2017 - November/December
Kevin looks at his favorite reporting tool (SSRS) and shows you how to maximize your users’ experience.
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SQL Server Reporting Services: Eight Power Tips
Last updated: Wednesday, June 23, 2021
Published in: CODE Magazine: 2016 - May/June
SQL Server’s Reporting Services is still the best workhorse for getting data to your users. Kevin tells you how to take advantage of some of its more subtle points.
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SQL Server Reporting Services: Seven Power Tips
Last updated: Wednesday, May 19, 2021
Published in: CODE Magazine: 2017 - May/June
You already know that SQL Server’s Reporting Services tools are useful. Kevin shows you some nifty work-arounds and extra-credit tricks that will make your reports sing.
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Stages of Data #1: A New Beginning
Last updated: Tuesday, April 13, 2021
Published in: CODE Magazine: 2018 - November/December
Kevin leaves his SQL Server-focused Baker’s Dozen behind and launches into a new series looking at the various stages of data warehousing. His first installment includes a look at reporting and storage layers, handy tips, and dealing with the business side of development.
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Stages of Data: A Playbook for Analytic Reporting Using COVID-19 Data
Last updated: Wednesday, August 31, 2022
Published in: CODE Magazine: 2020 - July/August
Kevin uses Power BI mapping to track a constantly changing array of data about the COVID-19 pandemic. Learn how pick the right data; it doesn't all come from just a few sources.
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Stages of Data: A Playbook for Analytic Reporting Using COVID-19 Data, Part 2
Last updated: Wednesday, August 31, 2022
Published in: CODE Magazine: 2020 - September/October
Developers should know their data before they spend a lot of effort analyzing it. For example, at face value, you should know if your data is in the millions or billions, and know "that's what the data said" is not the right answer if the data is bizarre. This article in Kevin Goff's Stages of Data series using PowerBI introduces a new state profile page with ranking formulas, new trend-based measures, defining custom filter groups, and more.
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Stages of Data: COVID Data, Summary Dashboards, and Source Data Tips
Last updated: Thursday, November 30, 2023
Published in: CODE Magazine: 2023 - November/December
In this third installment of a series, data architect and BI expert Kevin Goff demonstrates tips that power users can use to create great summary dashboards. You know that statistics are easy to tweak to appeal to certain audiences. Kevin explores how to make sure your data compares apples to apples and how to present it in a visually compelling way.
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Stages of Data: Some Basic SQL Server Patterns and Practices
Last updated: Wednesday, January 31, 2024
Published in: CODE Magazine: 2024 - January/February
This article explores various scenarios in SQL Server data handling, providing recommendations and identifying potential pitfalls. Topics covered include identifying patterns in data scenarios, using subqueries when dealing with multiple one-to-many relationships, logging database changes, handling null values versus empty values, using functions in WHERE and HAVING clauses, cumulative sums, using the PIVOT statement, and dealing with rounding errors.
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The Absolute Beginner’s Guide to Windows Azure SQL Database
Last updated: Tuesday, February 19, 2019
Published in: CODE Magazine: 2013 - May/June
In virtually every CODE article I’ve written since 2004, the proverbial 99% of the content has been based on things I’ve done in production. Well, every technical person has to “go back to school” at some point,-and my return to school has been in the last month as I finally took a look at SQL Azure. This article represents my findings as I recently finished “kindergarten” and am now ready for the trials of first grade!
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The Baker’s Dozen Doubleheader: 26 New Features in SQL Server 2012 (Part 1 of 2)
Last updated: Tuesday, February 19, 2019
Published in: CODE Magazine: 2012 - March/April
When I was a kid, I loved baseball. I lived it 24/7. In the summertime, happiness meant a pickup game during the day and a Phillies doubleheader at night. I’m still a kid at heart and I still love baseball - and I also love SQL Server. And right now, happiness means seeing all the cool new features in SQL Server 2012. There are so many of them that I can’t list them in a single article. So, I’m penning a two-part Baker’s Dozen. The first part of this “twin-bill” (yes, expect a few baseball analogies!) will be 13 new T-SQL and database engine features in SQL Server 2012. The “night-cap” in the next issue will be 13 new features in SQL Server Integration Services and the new Business Intelligence Semantic Model.
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The Baker’s Dozen Doubleheader: 26 new Features in SQL Server Integration Services 2012 (Part 2 of 2)
Last updated: Wednesday, August 31, 2022
Published in: CODE Magazine: 2012 - May/June
The new release of SQL Server's Integration Services has many exciting new features
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The Baker’s Dozen Doubleheader: 26 Productivity Tips for Managing Data (Part 1 of 2)
Last updated: Wednesday, August 31, 2022
Published in: CODE Magazine: 2006 - July/August
Regardless of your .NET language of choice, managing data is a vital skill for most applications. Developers frequently must work with data at different levels, with different tools, and in different forms. This article is the first in a two-part series on some of the more common data challenges that developers face. In Part 1 of this article, I’ll cover some capabilities in ADO.NET 2.0, ASP.NET 2.0, and T-SQL 2005. Part 2 will feature some additional T-SQL 2005 coverage, as well as ways to use .NET 2.0 generics.
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The Baker’s Dozen Doubleheader: 26 Productivity Tips for Managing Data (Part 2 of 2)
Last updated: Wednesday, August 31, 2022
Published in: CODE Magazine: 2006 - September/October
In the conclusion of this two-part series on managing data, I will focus on .NET generics, the ASP.NET 2.0 ObjectDataSource, and some more T-SQL 2005 capabilities. Regardless of whether you work in C# or VB.NET, or whether you spend more time on the front-end or back-end of an application, the ability to manage data will directly impact your contributions to a project. The new .NET generics classes provide you with near-quantum leap in efficiency by allowing you to write simpler code that accomplishes more. ASP.NET 2.0’s ObjectDataSource class helps you to easily integrate middle-tier data-aware classes to data-bound controls on a Web page. Finally, as you saw in Part 1 of this series (and will see again here in Part 2), T-SQL 2005 provides new language capabilities to help database developers be more productive.
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The Baker’s Dozen Doubleheader: 26 Productivity Tips for Optimizing SQL Server Queries (Part 2 of 2)
Last updated: Tuesday, February 19, 2019
Published in: CODE Magazine: 2012 - November/December
In part two of this series on optimizing SQL Server queries I’m going to continue with some T-SQL scenarios that pit one approach versus another. I’ll also look at what SQL developers can do to optimize certain data access scenarios. I’ll also compare approaches with temporary tables versus table variables, and stored procedures versus views.
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The Baker’s Dozen State of the Union: 13 Points on SQL Server Data Warehousing and Business Intelligence
Last updated: Thursday, July 15, 2021
Published in: CODE Magazine: 2015 - May/June
Kevin takes a look at SQL Server “then and now,” and shows us just how important it is to understand the various tools involved in BI.
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The Baker’s Dozen: 13 Tips for Building Database Web Applications Using ASP.NET 3.5, LINQ, and SQL Server 2005 Reporting Services
Last updated: Wednesday, August 31, 2022
Published in: CODE Magazine: 2008 - May/June
Are you moving a Windows desktop application to the browser, and sweating bullets, or perhaps just not quite sure about how all the new Web and data tools work together?With each passing year, Microsoft offers newer and more powerful tools for building rich database applications on the Web. So many and so frequently, in fact, that it can be hard to keep up with the new tools and still meet the requirements of your job! This article will show you how to get the most out of the new features in ASP.NET 3.5. The article will also show how you can use features in LINQ, even if you only use stored procedures for data access. And finally, since most applications use reporting, I’ll throw in a few nuggets on using SQL Server Reporting Services.
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The Baker’s Dozen: 13 Tips for Querying OLAP Databases with MDX
Last updated: Wednesday, August 31, 2022
Published in: CODE Magazine: 2008 - January/February
MDX is just like Transact-SQL, right? MDX is English-like and therefore easy to learn, right? Different software tools offer MDX generators and therefore I don’t need to learn MDX, right? MDX isn’t that popular, right?Well, just like the punch-line of the old Hertz car rental commercial, “Not exactly.” If your organization uses OLAP databases, you can add great value by knowing how to query OLAP databases using MDX queries. This article will cover common OLAP query requirements and MDX code solutions.
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The Baker’s Dozen: 13 Tips for SQL Server 2008 and SSRS 2008
Last updated: Wednesday, August 31, 2022
Published in: CODE Magazine: 2008 - July/August
A major software release either contains a substantial number of enhancements, or a small number of substantial enhancements.The last two releases of SQL Server remind me of the two types of Christmas: SQL 2005 was like receiving a large number of presents, and SQL Server 2008 is like receiving a smaller number of big gifts. Those of you who asked Santa for the ability to INSERT/UPDATE/DELETE in one SQL statement, or to specify multiple GROUP BY statements in a single SQL query, you will be very happy. If you wanted a hierarchical data type, you will be ecstatic. SQL Server 2008 also includes a new and completely re-written version of SQL Server Reporting Services (SSRS)-complete with a new interface, new charting features, and (get ready to applaud) no more reliance on Internet Information Services (IIS). So while the temperatures are getting warmer, it’s Christmas Day here at the Baker’s Dozen, and we’re about to unwrap thirteen major SQL Server/SSRS 2008 gifts from Microsoft.
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The Baker’s Dozen: 13 Comparisons Between Crystal Reports and SQL Server Reporting Services
Last updated: Wednesday, August 31, 2022
Published in: CODE Magazine: 2007 - November/December
Recent polls show that nearly fifty percent of applications with reporting functionality use Crystal Reports, and about twenty percent use SQL Server Reporting Services. This article will cover some of the major reporting tasks that developers face, and how the two reporting tools (Crystal and SQL Server Reporting Services) handle the tasks. Finally, I’ll provide a sneak preview at the next scheduled releases of both products (the next version of Crystal Reports and SQL Server Reporting Services 2008).
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The Baker’s Dozen: 13 Differences Between Analysis Services OLAP and Tabular
Last updated: Monday, May 23, 2022
Published in: CODE Magazine: 2013 - July/August
For over a decade, many Microsoft database developers have used SQL Server Analysis Services (SSAS) OLAP to create database cubes for advanced business analytics. SSAS OLAP offers many powerful features, although some developers view the learning curve of OLAP (and its supporting language, MDX) as very steep.
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The Baker’s Dozen: 13 Examples of Functionality in SQL Server 2008 Integration Services
Last updated: Tuesday, February 19, 2019
Published in: CODE Magazine: 2010 - July/August
A skilled database developer might find it difficult to accept that other tools can increase productivity. When Microsoft released SQL Server 2005 Integration Services (SSIS 2005), I did not think that any tool could possibly make me more productive than the C# and T-SQL code I was writing by hand. After some reconsideration (and subtle persuasion from peers), I discovered that SSIS 2005 contained many features that indeed reduced my development time - WITHOUT sacrificing flexibility. Microsoft added new functionality in SSIS 2008 to make a strong product even better. In this article, I’ll present 13 different examples that demonstrate the power of Integration Services.
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The Baker’s Dozen: 13 Examples Using XMLA to Update Analytic Databases
Last updated: Tuesday, April 26, 2022
Published in: CODE Magazine: 2013 - September/October
Database developers who learn Microsoft SQL Server Analysis Services (SSAS) know that they face a number of learning curves. In prior Baker’s Dozen articles, I’ve covered many of the steps for creating both SSAS OLAP and SSAS Tabular databases. In this article, I’m going to cover another topic: How to add or change data in analytic databases.
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The Baker’s Dozen: 13 Great Things to Know About SQL Server 2016
Last updated: Monday, June 7, 2021
Published in: CODE Magazine: 2016 - September/October
All eyes were on Microsoft when the latest version of SQL Server came out a couple of months ago. If you want to know what’s so great about it, you need to read Kevin’s handy summary.
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The Baker’s Dozen: 13 Miscellaneous C#, SQL, and Business Intelligence Development Tips
Last updated: Wednesday, August 31, 2022
Published in: CODE Magazine: 2009 - January/February
No, the title isn’t a misprint-this installment of the Baker’s Dozen will visit both sides of the planet. These days, many .NET user group meetings focus on database and business intelligence topics as well as hardcore .NET content. Over the last several months, I’ve spent roughly half my time modifying my own development framework for WCF. The result is some basic but functional factory classes I’d like to share. The other half of the time, I’ve been looking at different capabilities in the SQL Server 2005 and 2008 Business Intelligence stack, and solving requirements that BI developers often face. So rather than pick one side and make the other side wait two months, I decided to combine the two.
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The Baker’s Dozen: 13 Miscellaneous SQL Server Tips
Last updated: Tuesday, February 19, 2019
Published in: CODE Magazine: 2012 - January/February
To use a music analogy, many installments of “The Baker’s Dozen” have been like “concept albums,” where most or all of the tips work towards a big picture. Then there are times where I present a series of random tips that are largely standalone and don’t form a pattern. In this article, I’m going to present 13 random tips for SQL Server and T-SQL programming.
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The Baker’s Dozen: 13 Miscellaneous Transact-SQL Tips
Last updated: Friday, July 2, 2021
Published in: CODE Magazine: 2015 - September/October
Whether you’re new to T-SQL or not, you’re sure to find something interesting among Kevin’s tips for using it, no matter which version of SQL Server you’re using.
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The Baker’s Dozen: 13 More Examples of Functionality in SQL Server 2008 Integration Services
Last updated: Tuesday, February 19, 2019
Published in: CODE Magazine: 2010 - September/October
In the last Baker’s Dozen article, I demonstrated 13 SSIS packages to show what Integration Services can do. This article picks up where the last one left off. I’ll show some capabilities in SSIS, such as handling irregular input files, extracting database changes, implementing package configurations, and leveraging the advanced lookup features in SSIS 2008.
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The Baker’s Dozen: 13 Power Tips for Using SQL Server Reporting Services 2008 R2
Last updated: Tuesday, February 19, 2019
Published in: CODE Magazine: 2011 - July/August
With each new version of SQL Server Reporting Services, Microsoft continues to offer new functionality for reporting. SQL Server 2008 R2, released to manufacturing in mid-2010, represents Microsoft’s fourth major release of Reporting Services in the last 10 years. This fourth release focuses on map generation and various business intelligence/data visualization features. In this article, I’ll demonstrate 13 significant features in SSRS.
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The Baker’s Dozen: 13 Productivity Tips for ADO.NET 2.0
Last updated: Tuesday, February 19, 2019
Published in: CODE Magazine: 2006 - January/February
This installment of “The Baker’s Dozen” presents a variety of tips and techniques to become productive with data handling techniques using ADO.NET 2.0 in Visual Studio 2005. ADO.NET 2.0 is faster than the first version of ADO.NET; in some instances, significantly faster. While many view ADO.NET 2.0 as more evolutionary than revolutionary, it provides many functions to give developers greater control over data access and data manipulation. It also leverages the new database capabilities in SQL Server 2005. In addition, ADO.NET 2.0 simplifies the creation of multiple-database solutions.
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The Baker’s Dozen: 13 Productivity Tips for Building OLAP Databases with Microsoft SQL Server 2008 Analysis Services
Last updated: Tuesday, February 19, 2019
Published in: CODE Magazine: 2011 - March/April
rewarding experience of writing and speaking is taking a seemingly complex topic and making it more understandable and accessible. In this article, I’ll show how to create and use OLAP databases and cubes using SQL Server Analysis Services 2008 (SSAS 2008). The benefits of OLAP are significant, even monumental - but like most technologies, reaping the benefits means considerable research and effort into leveraging the tools. In the case of OLAP databases, developers need to learn the differences between OLAP databases and relational databases, and how to use the tools that SSAS provides. In this article, I’ll walk through how to create an OLAP database and how to use the tools in Analysis Services to enhance the OLAP database. By the end, you’ll see why businesses and other organizations see the value of OLAP databases. I’ll also briefly cover some of the plans Microsoft has announced for the next generation of OLAP tools.
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The Baker’s Dozen: 13 Productivity Tips for Crystal Reports Redux
Last updated: Wednesday, August 31, 2022
Published in: CODE Magazine: 2007 - January/February
This article presents a follow-up to my January/February 2005 article, The Baker's Dozen: 13 Productivity Tips for Crystal Reports and .NET, where I presented productivity tips for developers who use Crystal Reports for .NET. In this sequel article, Crystal Reports Redux, I’ll offer some changes to the original article and will present some new material for Crystal Reports development. While I’ll focus on the version of Crystal Reports that ships with Visual Studio 2005 Professional, I’ll mention some of the capabilities found in the latest version, Crystal Reports XI.
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The Baker’s Dozen: 13 Productivity Tips for Generating PowerPoint Presentations
Last updated: Saturday, January 18, 2020
Published in: CODE Magazine: 2005 - September/October
This installment of “The Baker’s Dozen” finds the Baker expanding from pastries to eye candy: generating PowerPoint output. Many power users build presentations using data from Excel or other data sources. This article shows how to automate Microsoft PowerPoint 2003 from within a Visual Studio 2005 application. The article presents a class called GenPPT, which creates several different types of slides, including slides that integrate tables and charts. GenPPT is written in Visual Basic 2005, and the demo program that calls it is written in C#: this demonstrates using multiple .NET languages in a solution.
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The Baker’s Dozen: 13 Productivity Tips for Generating PowerPoint Presentations
Last updated: Saturday, January 18, 2020
Published in: CODE Magazine: 2006 - November/December
This installment of “The Baker’s Dozen” finds the Baker expanding from pastries to eye candy: generating PowerPoint output. Many power users build presentations using data from Excel or other data sources. This article shows how to automate Microsoft PowerPoint 2003 from within a Visual Studio 2005 application. The article presents a class called GenPPT, which creates several different types of slides, including slides that integrate tables and charts. GenPPT is written in Visual Basic 2005, and the demo program that calls it is written in C#: this demonstrates using multiple .NET languages in a solution.
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The Baker’s Dozen: 13 Productivity Tips for Moving from VFP to .NET
Last updated: Wednesday, August 31, 2022
Published in: CODE Focus Magazine: 2007 - Vol. 4 - Issue 1 - Sedna: Beyond Visual FoxPro 9, VFP Conversion Papers
When Visual FoxPro developers take the plunge to learn .NET, the most common reaction is, “I could do such-and-such, this-and-that in VFP-how can I do it in .NET?” This special edition of The Baker’s Dozen will offer solutions for many of the typical challenges that VFP developers face when tackling .NET. I’ll start by covering .NET solution and project structures and an overview of the .NET Framework, and I’ll spend time showing how to use .NET reflection to do some of the things that VFP developers could accomplish with macro-expansion. Then I’ll cover different .NET features such as Generics, ASP.NET 2.0, and I’ll show how to create a reusable data access component. Finally, I’ll build the architecture for a set of reusable data maintenance classes in .NET.
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The Baker’s Dozen: 13 Productivity Tips for Remoting in Visual Studio 2005
Last updated: Tuesday, February 19, 2019
Published in: CODE Magazine: 2006 - May/June
This installment of the Baker’s Dozen presents an introduction to remoting and remoting interfaces.
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The Baker’s Dozen: 13 Productivity Tips for Transact-SQL 2005
Last updated: Tuesday, February 19, 2019
Published in: CODE Magazine: 2007 - September/October
Thinking of upgrading to SQL Server 2005? Or are you using SQL 2005 already and you want to learn more about the language features? Then this article may be for you!Microsoft implemented many new features in SQL Server 2005, including an impressive set of language enhancements. From new language statements for SQL-99 compatibility to new features in response to customer requests, Transact-SQL 2005 helps to increase developer productivity. In this article, I’ll cover most of the new language features by posing a statement/scenario and then provide some code samples to show how you can use T-SQL 2005 to address the problem. At the end of the article, I’ll talk briefly about Visual Studio Team Edition for Database Professionals, a product that helps a development team to manage databases. Finally, I’ll give you a sneak preview of some features in the next scheduled version for SQL Server (SQL Server 2008, “Katmai”).
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The Baker’s Dozen: 13 Productivity Tips for Using Microsoft PowerPivot and DAX Formulas
Last updated: Tuesday, February 19, 2019
Published in: CODE Magazine: 2011 - January/February
I know what you’re thinking: an article in CODE Magazine about Excel and PowerPivot? Yes, that’s correct; this installment of the “Baker’s Dozen” covers an important new tool to come out of Redmond: Microsoft PowerPivot. In a nutshell, PowerPivot provides some of the business intelligence capabilities that developers are accustomed to seeing in OLAP tools like Microsoft Analysis Services. So why should you and I care? Because these “end-user” tools still require some programming and configuration. So in this article, I’ll cover the installation of PowerPivot, a brief example of how to use it in Excel - and of course, since this IS CODE Magazine, I’ll show some DAX formula expressions to get the most out of PowerPivot.
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The Baker’s Dozen: 13 Reasons for Upgrading to Visual Studio 2005
Last updated: Saturday, January 18, 2020
Published in: CODE Magazine: 2005 - November/December
This installment of “The Baker’s Dozen” covers some of the major features in Visual Studio 2005. Visual Studio 2005 offers language, data handling, and development environment enhancements that are sure to please many developers. Programmers who are currently using Visual Studio .NET 2003 will find many ways to write more efficient code and increase their overall productivity. In addition, programmers who are new to .NET will find the migration to Visual Studio 2005 a bit easier than the migration to the first version of .NET. While it’s not possible to talk about every new feature in Visual Studio 2005, this article will cover many of the primary changes and enhancements.
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The Baker’s Dozen: 13- SQL Server Interview Questions
Last updated: Friday, June 25, 2021
Published in: CODE Magazine: 2016 - January/February
Kevin uses his experience on both sides of the interview table to help you wow at your next interview. Not only that, but you’ll probably pick up a few pointers, too!
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The Baker’s Dozen: 13 Steps for Building a Lookup Page Using ASP.NET 2.0, SQL 2005, and C# 2.0
Last updated: Wednesday, August 31, 2022
Published in: CODE Magazine: 2007 - March/April
Lookup and navigation screens initially seem like no-brainers, when compared to other parts of an application-yet by the time a developer has met all the user requirements and requests, he/she has expended much more time than expected. This issue of The Baker’s Dozen will build a lookup Web page using ASP.NET 2.0, SQL Server 2005, and C# 2.0. The lookup and results page will contain optional lookup criteria and custom paging of the result set. The solution will utilize new language features in SQL 2005 for providing ranking numbers to correlate with custom paging, and new capabilities in .NET generics to pump the results of a stored procedure into a custom collection. Just like Mr. Mayagi taught Daniel the martial arts by doing exercises, the example in this article will demonstrate some common design patterns, such as factory creation patterns, using .NET generics. The article also subtly presents a general methodology for building database Web pages.
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The Baker’s Dozen: 13 Steps for Building a SQL Server Analysis Services 2012 Tabular Model
Last updated: Thursday, November 30, 2023
Published in: CODE Magazine: 2013 - January/February
For several years, database developers have created analytic (OLAP) databases using tools such as Microsoft SQL Server Analysis Services. SSAS includes the MDX programming language for retrieving data and writing custom expressions. These tools remain very powerful for creating analytic applications. However, some view the tools in SSAS/MDX as difficult to learn. In SQL Server Analysis Services 2012, Microsoft has created a second model (known as the tabular model) for creating analytic databases. The new model brings the promise of simplified features and (in some cases) even better performance than traditional OLAP. In this article, I’ll provide an overview for this new model and will walk through a basic example of creating an SSAS 2012 tabular model database.
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The Baker’s Dozen: 13 Tips for Basics of Data Warehousing and Dimensional Modeling
Last updated: Wednesday, June 8, 2022
Published in: CODE Magazine: 2013 - March/April
Imagine you’re working for a company that has accumulated a tremendous amount of transaction data. The business users want to perform all sorts of analysis, monitoring and analytics on the data. Some OLTP developers might reply with, “Just create views or stored procedures to query all the data the way the users want.” Many companies initially take that approach - however, just like certain technologies and system hardware configurations don’t scale well, certain methodologies don’t scale well either. Fortunately, this is where data warehousing and dimensional modeling can help. In this article, I’ll provide some basic information for developers on the basics of data warehousing and dimensional modeling - information that might help you if you want to provide even more value for your company.
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The Baker’s Dozen: 13 Tips for Better Extract/Transform/Load (ETL) Practices in Data Warehousing (Part 1 of 2)
Last updated: Wednesday, May 12, 2021
Published in: CODE Magazine: 2017 - September/October
In this first installment of his ETL articles, Kevin shows you what to do—and even what not to do—when designing your Data Warehouse.
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The Baker’s Dozen: 13 Tips for Building Dashboards with Microsoft BI Tools
Last updated: Wednesday, August 31, 2022
Published in: CODE Magazine: 2008 - March/April
Scorecards, test results, report cards, summaries-nearly everyone wants to skip past the details and see the bottom line. Whether it is “pass or fail”, “go or no go”, managers evaluate professional efforts based on performance. Microsoft’s Business Intelligence tools provide developers and power users with the tools and methodologies to produce scorecards and other summaries that graphically represent performance. This article will create a Web-based Dashboard using several Microsoft products, including the newest product in the BI stack, PerformancePoint Server.
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The Baker’s Dozen: 13 Transact SQL Programming Tips
Last updated: Wednesday, August 31, 2022
Published in: CODE Magazine: 2011 - November/December
Even with all the new features in the Microsoft SQL Server Business Intelligence (BI), sometimes the only way to accomplish a task is with good old fashioned T-SQL code. (Fortunately, “code” is the acronym for this great magazine!) In this latest installment of The Baker’s Dozen, I’ll present 13 T-SQL programming tips that could help you accomplish different database tasks.
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The Baker’s Dozen: 26 Productivity Tips for Optimizing SQL Server Queries (Part 1 of 2)
Last updated: Tuesday, February 19, 2019
Published in: CODE Magazine: 2012 - July/August
There’s an old programmer adage: “First you make it work, then you make it work fast.” Well, when writing T-SQL queries, you can do both, if you have some knowledge about how the SQL Server optimizer works. This will be a two-part article. In part one, I’ll start with fairly basic optimization tips and techniques for writing SQL queries. In part two, I’ll cover more advanced techniques.
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The Baker’s Dozen: A 13-Question Pop Quiz of SQL Server Items
Last updated: Tuesday, June 29, 2021
Published in: CODE Magazine: 2015 - November/December
If you’ve ever wondered how your SQL Server knowledge stacked up, you’ll want to take Kevin’s unofficial test. He explains both the right and wrong answers, so no matter what your skills are, you’re bound to learn something new.
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The Baker’s Dozen: A 13-Step Crash Course for Learning Windows Communication Foundation (WCF)
Last updated: Wednesday, August 31, 2022
Published in: CODE Magazine: 2007 - May/June
This article will present a crash-course in the basics of Windows Communication Foundation (WCF). WCF is one of the exciting new capabilities in the .NET 3.0 Framework. It provides a unified and uniform programming model for building distributed applications. Those who previously built multiple code bases to deal with Web services and .NET remoting will surely come to appreciate the power standardization that WCF offers. WCF, like any other new technology, requires research and experimentation to become productive. This article will assume no prior experience with WCF, and will walk you through some basic exercises and steps to show WCF’s capabilities.
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The Baker’s Dozen: A 13-Step Crash Course for Using LINQ
Last updated: Wednesday, August 31, 2022
Published in: CODE Magazine: 2007 - July/August
How many software tasks DON’T involve reading through data? Answer: very few. Developers work all the time with database data, XML data, DataSets, collections, lists, and arrays-all with different syntax and functionality for each one. Developers who write T-SQL code often covet set-based language statements when they work against other types of data. Additionally, developers who have coded against strongly-typed custom collections wish they could write SQL database queries with IntelliSense. Language Integrated Query (LINQ), a set of extensions to the .NET Framework for the next version of Visual Studio codename “Orcas”, brings the promise of integrated and uniform query capabilities to increase developer productivity when working with different types of data. While LINQ is a large topic worthy of books, this edition of The Baker’s Dozen will provide a crash course to learn what’s under the LINQ hood.
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The Baker's Dozen: 13 Productivity Tips for Building a .NET Distributed Application
Last updated: Wednesday, August 31, 2022
Published in: CODE Magazine: 2005 - July/August
This installment of "The Baker's Dozen" presents a Windows Forms database application that demonstrates some of the primary attributes of a distributed architecture. These attributes include authentication and connectivity, data management, business objects, user-interface modules, and reporting. The featured application is a job-costing and invoicing application for a Masonry company, and is available for download. The application contains many functions that are required in most business applications. This article steps through the construction of these key pieces and provides classes and methodologies that you can apply to your next application.
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The Baker's Dozen: 13 Productivity Tips for Crystal Reports and .NET
Last updated: Wednesday, August 31, 2022
Published in: CODE Magazine: 2005 - January/February
I'll show you how to build tools to address common reporting requirements for your business using Crystal Reports with .NET.I'll also show you how you can use graphics and multiple levels of detail to summarize large amounts of information and efficiently present it to business users and decision makers. Users of your company data will be the first to determine that an otherwise quality software solution is incomplete if it fails to present data in a way they can easily interpret. Although Crystal Reports provides many outstanding capabilities to help build and deliver sophisticated presentation output, I'll present a proven collection of reusable practices and methodologies that you can apply across most reporting projects to add that extra sparkle to your solutions.
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The Baker's Dozen: 13 Productivity Tips for Database Development Using Transact-SQL
Last updated: Tuesday, February 19, 2019
Published in: CODE Magazine: 2005 - March/April
Many application developers face the challenges of working with SQL Server 2000.These challenges include retrieving and grouping large amounts of data, building result sets, and tracking changes to data. All require professional strategies that hold water against a seemingly endless number of possibilities. This installment of "The Baker's Dozen" presents a variety of real-world database situations and how you can use Transact-SQL and SQL-92 to tackle these issues.
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The Baker's Dozen: 13 Productivity Tips for the Windows Forms DataGrid
Last updated: Wednesday, August 31, 2022
Published in: CODE Magazine: 2004 - November/December
New developers often struggle with the .NET DataGrid when trying to replicate grid functionality from other platforms.More experienced developers lament the deficiencies of the .NET DataGrid to address end user requirements. Consequently, many developers seek sophisticated third-party alternatives. In this article, I'll present a set of classes for the DataGrid to help address some of the more common struggles. Although third-party tools always offer more capabilities than a native control, this article also demonstrates how it's possible for you to implement some of the functions found in these third-party tools.