Guru's Guide to SQL Server™ Stored Procedures, XML, and HTML, The

Idioms

As I've said, I believe every programming language is characterized by its idioms—the techniques experienced developers use to solve common problems—and Transact-SQL is no exception. In this section, I'll discuss a few common Transact-SQL idioms. The list is by no means exhaustive, but there should be enough here to get you started thinking about the idioms that make up the language. Once you begin thinking this way, you'll begin to see idioms everywhere you look. A programming language's idioms are like the basic tools one might find in a toolbox. Every toolbox should have a certain basic set of them, although some toolboxes have more variety than others. Experienced developers tend to have lots of tools, just like the experienced craftsman ...