“Black Arts” of T-SQL Dates and Times #1 – The Basics of Temporal Magic

Abstract:
This is Part 1 of a 2-part series on the “Black Arts” of T-SQL Dates and Times. If you’re a newbie to T-SQL, the information in this presentation is essential to your career because almost everything we do in a database relies heavily on dates and times and is critical if you intend to have a career as a Database Developer, DBA, in BI, or as a Data Analyst , Data Scientist, or any of the latest “buzz-word” career titles. The basic understanding of temporal data is key even if you never intend to “touch” T-SQL because many other applications have similar capabilities and is prerequisite to other careers in data.

If you’re not a newbie and already have a good grasp on the “beginner” material, you’ll not only find valuable re-enforcement of what you already know but you may also discover some important things you may not already know because they’re usually not taught in most classes or presentations and are sometimes difficult to find in the Microsoft documentation.

On that latter point, you’ll be introduced to the magnificent power of DateSerial#s, which is no longer explicitly covered in the Microsoft documentation even though it’s the KEY to solving just about any temporal problem you may need to solve. It IS the beginning of bringing your database skills up to the “Black Arts” level of knowledge for Dates and Times.

Part 2 is coming up next month.

Speaker Bio:
Jeff Moden is a 9-year SQL Server MVP Veteran, is the longtime leading poster on SQLServerCentral.com where he has written 39 mostly 5-star articles and has more than 55 thousand post replies, has spoken at the “old” PASS Summit and many SQL Saturdays, many SQL User Groups and, lately, has given many online presentations. Some of his more heterodoxic presentations have shattered many myths that are more than 2 decades old and his article on the Tally Table has made it easy even for newbies to avoid loops and other forms of RBAR (and he coined that term, as well). Like a lot of us, he is an “accidental DBA”, has been working with T-SQL for 24 years, and has been teaching the “Black Arts” of T-SQL for the better part of that. Jeff’s mantra is “Performance is in the code”.

Agenda:

6:00-6:30 - Networking and speaker setup time
6:30-6:35 - Opening remarks & Introductions
6:35 - Speaker time!