WHAT'S NEW?

DATEPART and DATENAME usage

Had this requirement of reading the name and month value for one of our requirement today.
We used the easiest once -

DATEPART(month, Customer_joining_date)

this outputs the numeric month value. So if its January its 1, Feb then its 2.

DATENAME(month, Customer_joining_date)

this outputs the month name from the date time value. So if its in mm-dd-yyyy (08-26-1987 18:52:03:00) then it is will output's AUGUST.

SYSDATETIME() vs  GETDATE()

both of them will return the same current system date time but SYSDATETIME() will return that in DATETIME2 format with precision upto 7 digits.



vachar vs nvachar in SQL Server

Do you know- 


  • VARCHAR takes less amount of disk space to store than NVACHAR for the same string.
  • VARCHAR does not support unicode data. So, if I try to save a string that is in any other language than English, it fails to display it as is.
  • Thus NVARCHAR comes to our rescue in case we want to save unicode string variables/ literals.
  • If we run the execution plan for select statements that have VARCHAR and NVARCHAR, we will notice that NVARCHAR takes more time to than VARCHAR.


remember these simple things and design your database variables next time to save disk and save execution to be faster.
Happy coding.

4 points for better productivity and for a better product.

Recently, I have completed 6 years in IT industry. On this occasion, when I pulled my friends for a evening coffee,I have been asked by few of my friends to put down a few points that I think are worth noting from my 6 years of IT industry experience.
Though my complete career has been with IT so far, yet I believe that the points that I would write will stand valid for all the other fields where effort and output has a great importance. Hence, I published my article in LinkedIn yesterday with just 4 and yet most important according to me.


As a child, I was taught that I must have some self-guidelines and self-discipline. However, it is a surprising thing that the so called “self” are taught to me when I was a kid, and I was made to keep up to the mark and if there is any chance, make it a habit for lifetime.
The common point from one of the many “self” things that were taught at home and school was being able to do and complete my activities in time and within the schedule of either my parents (mostly my mom in this case) or by my teachers.  All of them believed that doing so will take us to a better tomorrow and a better way of leading life.
Here are my 4 most important learning’s that I had in my last 6 years as a professional in an IT industry that is mostly dominated with the single phrase – “productivity”.

[Read the complete article here: Read It Now!!!]

pic credits: xlntele

Manage your tasks and not your time

I prefer saying manage one’s tasks over managing one’s time. Managing one’s activities is more important than managing time. Doesn’t it sound funny when someone says – “You will have to learn to manage your time”? [Read more].

Understand the key concepts/ business scenario.

No matter what field you are in, it is more important to understand the true business scenario to which you are working. This means, think what is it that the end user (customer) is expecting when she comes across your product. Does your design appeal the end user? Does your approach have all the ingredients that will keep up to the expectations of the end user? [Read more].

Get involved and get going.

Don’t stop after you know what the end user has asked you for. Be proactive. Talk to your manager. Get involved in all those meetings and interactions that have the client representation. [Read more]!

Communicate and communicate directly.

I am sure that majority of the sessions that you were forced into might just have been on communication skills and email communication. I am confident that they have definitely helped you better the way you talk to your colleagues and the way you write your emails.
However, what I mean here is completely different from the rest of them [Read more].

The To-do list.

That's the biggest thing that anyone has to manage more than anything else these days. Someone who manages his/her todo list is more a manger symbol in today's fast moving world.
How are you managing your todo list then?
Some use cellphone alerts some use calender ans some use the system pop ups.



In the good olden days, people maintained a diary fir their tasks and activities.  With increasing use of technology,  people don't even remember their wife' phone number.

In this situation the old practices come to our rescue. Try carrying a pen and a small paper that fits in your pocket.  Write the most important ones with a star in front of them and number for the others.

This is the best way to get the most important of your work done with almost no hindrances