Best practices to maximize portability in SQL Server 2016












4














When it comes to developing the prototype of a solution, often the technologies has not been decided yet and might not be the same that will be used in the finished product.



In this scenarios I tend to use Microsoft SQL Server writing the queries as standard as possible to simplify the eventual migration to another server.



Is there a way or some known practice to enforce the use of standard SQL over T-SQL dialect directly in SQL Server or via SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS)?










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  • 1




    Portability is a nice textbook goal, but it rarely happens in practice. When you have a choice between standard syntax (<>) and non-standard (!=), where there is no compromise on performance or maintainability, I always choose standard. But when it comes at other costs, or there is no standard equivalent I tap out and go proprietary. The things you give up just for the ability to later completely switch platforms wholesale just aren’t worth it imho.
    – Aaron Bertrand
    2 hours ago






  • 2




    The only time portability is a realistic goal is when you’re writing an app that needs to integrate with multiple platforms simultaneously because your customers use different platforms. Even then, unless you want functionality to be limited and performance to be terrible on all platforms, I would ship packages meant to take advantage of features of individual platforms.
    – Aaron Bertrand
    2 hours ago
















4














When it comes to developing the prototype of a solution, often the technologies has not been decided yet and might not be the same that will be used in the finished product.



In this scenarios I tend to use Microsoft SQL Server writing the queries as standard as possible to simplify the eventual migration to another server.



Is there a way or some known practice to enforce the use of standard SQL over T-SQL dialect directly in SQL Server or via SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS)?










share|improve this question









New contributor




s.demuro is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
















  • 1




    Portability is a nice textbook goal, but it rarely happens in practice. When you have a choice between standard syntax (<>) and non-standard (!=), where there is no compromise on performance or maintainability, I always choose standard. But when it comes at other costs, or there is no standard equivalent I tap out and go proprietary. The things you give up just for the ability to later completely switch platforms wholesale just aren’t worth it imho.
    – Aaron Bertrand
    2 hours ago






  • 2




    The only time portability is a realistic goal is when you’re writing an app that needs to integrate with multiple platforms simultaneously because your customers use different platforms. Even then, unless you want functionality to be limited and performance to be terrible on all platforms, I would ship packages meant to take advantage of features of individual platforms.
    – Aaron Bertrand
    2 hours ago














4












4








4


2





When it comes to developing the prototype of a solution, often the technologies has not been decided yet and might not be the same that will be used in the finished product.



In this scenarios I tend to use Microsoft SQL Server writing the queries as standard as possible to simplify the eventual migration to another server.



Is there a way or some known practice to enforce the use of standard SQL over T-SQL dialect directly in SQL Server or via SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS)?










share|improve this question









New contributor




s.demuro is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.











When it comes to developing the prototype of a solution, often the technologies has not been decided yet and might not be the same that will be used in the finished product.



In this scenarios I tend to use Microsoft SQL Server writing the queries as standard as possible to simplify the eventual migration to another server.



Is there a way or some known practice to enforce the use of standard SQL over T-SQL dialect directly in SQL Server or via SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS)?







sql-server sql-server-2016 migration sql-standard






share|improve this question









New contributor




s.demuro is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
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share|improve this question









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share|improve this question








edited 33 mins ago









jadarnel27

3,3201329




3,3201329






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asked 3 hours ago









s.demuro

212




212




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s.demuro is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.






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Check out our Code of Conduct.








  • 1




    Portability is a nice textbook goal, but it rarely happens in practice. When you have a choice between standard syntax (<>) and non-standard (!=), where there is no compromise on performance or maintainability, I always choose standard. But when it comes at other costs, or there is no standard equivalent I tap out and go proprietary. The things you give up just for the ability to later completely switch platforms wholesale just aren’t worth it imho.
    – Aaron Bertrand
    2 hours ago






  • 2




    The only time portability is a realistic goal is when you’re writing an app that needs to integrate with multiple platforms simultaneously because your customers use different platforms. Even then, unless you want functionality to be limited and performance to be terrible on all platforms, I would ship packages meant to take advantage of features of individual platforms.
    – Aaron Bertrand
    2 hours ago














  • 1




    Portability is a nice textbook goal, but it rarely happens in practice. When you have a choice between standard syntax (<>) and non-standard (!=), where there is no compromise on performance or maintainability, I always choose standard. But when it comes at other costs, or there is no standard equivalent I tap out and go proprietary. The things you give up just for the ability to later completely switch platforms wholesale just aren’t worth it imho.
    – Aaron Bertrand
    2 hours ago






  • 2




    The only time portability is a realistic goal is when you’re writing an app that needs to integrate with multiple platforms simultaneously because your customers use different platforms. Even then, unless you want functionality to be limited and performance to be terrible on all platforms, I would ship packages meant to take advantage of features of individual platforms.
    – Aaron Bertrand
    2 hours ago








1




1




Portability is a nice textbook goal, but it rarely happens in practice. When you have a choice between standard syntax (<>) and non-standard (!=), where there is no compromise on performance or maintainability, I always choose standard. But when it comes at other costs, or there is no standard equivalent I tap out and go proprietary. The things you give up just for the ability to later completely switch platforms wholesale just aren’t worth it imho.
– Aaron Bertrand
2 hours ago




Portability is a nice textbook goal, but it rarely happens in practice. When you have a choice between standard syntax (<>) and non-standard (!=), where there is no compromise on performance or maintainability, I always choose standard. But when it comes at other costs, or there is no standard equivalent I tap out and go proprietary. The things you give up just for the ability to later completely switch platforms wholesale just aren’t worth it imho.
– Aaron Bertrand
2 hours ago




2




2




The only time portability is a realistic goal is when you’re writing an app that needs to integrate with multiple platforms simultaneously because your customers use different platforms. Even then, unless you want functionality to be limited and performance to be terrible on all platforms, I would ship packages meant to take advantage of features of individual platforms.
– Aaron Bertrand
2 hours ago




The only time portability is a realistic goal is when you’re writing an app that needs to integrate with multiple platforms simultaneously because your customers use different platforms. Even then, unless you want functionality to be limited and performance to be terrible on all platforms, I would ship packages meant to take advantage of features of individual platforms.
– Aaron Bertrand
2 hours ago










3 Answers
3






active

oldest

votes


















5














Not really.



There is SET FIPS_FLAGGER 'FULL'.



This prints out a warning for non standard SQL - but some caveats are




  • I am unsure what specific standard this uses (and suspect it may be SQL 92)

  • From a quick test this doesn't complain about use of the + operator for string concatenation or proprietary functions such as GETDATE() so it doesn't seem very comprehensive.






share|improve this answer































    3














    Do not enforce STD SQL.



    Decide first which DBMS you will use according to the needs of your project, and take advantage of it.






    share|improve this answer































      1














      User Aaron Bertrand made some comments that align well with my thoughts on your question. This is more of a frame challenge than an answer to your specific question, but I think it's valuable to consider in this context.




      Portability is a nice textbook goal, but it rarely happens in practice.




      If you have to change platforms at some point, there will be changes needed to the application, the database, and probably many other things. If you can be somewhat "platform agnostic" without too much effort, that's fine. But it's really a bad business decision to use that as a design goal.



      There are many places online where people discuss the downsides or programming this way, here's one of them that I find pretty compelling:



      Database Abstraction Layers Must Die!




      The Portability Fallacy



      The author uses an argument I hear all the time: If you use a good abstraction layer, it'll be easy to move from $this_database to $other_database down the road.



      That's bullshit. It's never easy.



      In any non-trivial database backed application, nobody thinks of switching databases as an easy matter. Thinking that "the conversion will be painless" is a fantasy.



      Good engineers try to select the best tools for the job and then do everything they can to take advantage of their tool's unique and most powerful features. In the database world, that means specific hints, indexing, data types, and even table structure decisions. If you truly limit yourself to the subset of features that is common across all major RDBMSes, you're doing yourself and your clients a huge disservice.



      That's no different from saying "I'm doing to limit myself to the subset of PHP that's the same in Perl and C, because I might want to switch languages one day and 'painlessly' port my code."



      That just doesn't happen.



      The cost of switching databases after an application is developed and deployed is quite high. You have possible schema and index changes, syntax changes, optimization and tuning work to re-do, hints to adjust or remove, and so on. Changing mysql_foo() to oracle_foo() is really the least of your problems. You're gonna touch most, if not all, of your SQL--or you'll at least need to verify it.



      That doesn't sound "painless" to me.







      share|improve this answer





















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        3 Answers
        3






        active

        oldest

        votes








        3 Answers
        3






        active

        oldest

        votes









        active

        oldest

        votes






        active

        oldest

        votes









        5














        Not really.



        There is SET FIPS_FLAGGER 'FULL'.



        This prints out a warning for non standard SQL - but some caveats are




        • I am unsure what specific standard this uses (and suspect it may be SQL 92)

        • From a quick test this doesn't complain about use of the + operator for string concatenation or proprietary functions such as GETDATE() so it doesn't seem very comprehensive.






        share|improve this answer




























          5














          Not really.



          There is SET FIPS_FLAGGER 'FULL'.



          This prints out a warning for non standard SQL - but some caveats are




          • I am unsure what specific standard this uses (and suspect it may be SQL 92)

          • From a quick test this doesn't complain about use of the + operator for string concatenation or proprietary functions such as GETDATE() so it doesn't seem very comprehensive.






          share|improve this answer


























            5












            5








            5






            Not really.



            There is SET FIPS_FLAGGER 'FULL'.



            This prints out a warning for non standard SQL - but some caveats are




            • I am unsure what specific standard this uses (and suspect it may be SQL 92)

            • From a quick test this doesn't complain about use of the + operator for string concatenation or proprietary functions such as GETDATE() so it doesn't seem very comprehensive.






            share|improve this answer














            Not really.



            There is SET FIPS_FLAGGER 'FULL'.



            This prints out a warning for non standard SQL - but some caveats are




            • I am unsure what specific standard this uses (and suspect it may be SQL 92)

            • From a quick test this doesn't complain about use of the + operator for string concatenation or proprietary functions such as GETDATE() so it doesn't seem very comprehensive.







            share|improve this answer














            share|improve this answer



            share|improve this answer








            edited 3 hours ago

























            answered 3 hours ago









            Martin Smith

            61.4k10166245




            61.4k10166245

























                3














                Do not enforce STD SQL.



                Decide first which DBMS you will use according to the needs of your project, and take advantage of it.






                share|improve this answer




























                  3














                  Do not enforce STD SQL.



                  Decide first which DBMS you will use according to the needs of your project, and take advantage of it.






                  share|improve this answer


























                    3












                    3








                    3






                    Do not enforce STD SQL.



                    Decide first which DBMS you will use according to the needs of your project, and take advantage of it.






                    share|improve this answer














                    Do not enforce STD SQL.



                    Decide first which DBMS you will use according to the needs of your project, and take advantage of it.







                    share|improve this answer














                    share|improve this answer



                    share|improve this answer








                    edited 2 hours ago

























                    answered 3 hours ago









                    McNets

                    14.7k41857




                    14.7k41857























                        1














                        User Aaron Bertrand made some comments that align well with my thoughts on your question. This is more of a frame challenge than an answer to your specific question, but I think it's valuable to consider in this context.




                        Portability is a nice textbook goal, but it rarely happens in practice.




                        If you have to change platforms at some point, there will be changes needed to the application, the database, and probably many other things. If you can be somewhat "platform agnostic" without too much effort, that's fine. But it's really a bad business decision to use that as a design goal.



                        There are many places online where people discuss the downsides or programming this way, here's one of them that I find pretty compelling:



                        Database Abstraction Layers Must Die!




                        The Portability Fallacy



                        The author uses an argument I hear all the time: If you use a good abstraction layer, it'll be easy to move from $this_database to $other_database down the road.



                        That's bullshit. It's never easy.



                        In any non-trivial database backed application, nobody thinks of switching databases as an easy matter. Thinking that "the conversion will be painless" is a fantasy.



                        Good engineers try to select the best tools for the job and then do everything they can to take advantage of their tool's unique and most powerful features. In the database world, that means specific hints, indexing, data types, and even table structure decisions. If you truly limit yourself to the subset of features that is common across all major RDBMSes, you're doing yourself and your clients a huge disservice.



                        That's no different from saying "I'm doing to limit myself to the subset of PHP that's the same in Perl and C, because I might want to switch languages one day and 'painlessly' port my code."



                        That just doesn't happen.



                        The cost of switching databases after an application is developed and deployed is quite high. You have possible schema and index changes, syntax changes, optimization and tuning work to re-do, hints to adjust or remove, and so on. Changing mysql_foo() to oracle_foo() is really the least of your problems. You're gonna touch most, if not all, of your SQL--or you'll at least need to verify it.



                        That doesn't sound "painless" to me.







                        share|improve this answer


























                          1














                          User Aaron Bertrand made some comments that align well with my thoughts on your question. This is more of a frame challenge than an answer to your specific question, but I think it's valuable to consider in this context.




                          Portability is a nice textbook goal, but it rarely happens in practice.




                          If you have to change platforms at some point, there will be changes needed to the application, the database, and probably many other things. If you can be somewhat "platform agnostic" without too much effort, that's fine. But it's really a bad business decision to use that as a design goal.



                          There are many places online where people discuss the downsides or programming this way, here's one of them that I find pretty compelling:



                          Database Abstraction Layers Must Die!




                          The Portability Fallacy



                          The author uses an argument I hear all the time: If you use a good abstraction layer, it'll be easy to move from $this_database to $other_database down the road.



                          That's bullshit. It's never easy.



                          In any non-trivial database backed application, nobody thinks of switching databases as an easy matter. Thinking that "the conversion will be painless" is a fantasy.



                          Good engineers try to select the best tools for the job and then do everything they can to take advantage of their tool's unique and most powerful features. In the database world, that means specific hints, indexing, data types, and even table structure decisions. If you truly limit yourself to the subset of features that is common across all major RDBMSes, you're doing yourself and your clients a huge disservice.



                          That's no different from saying "I'm doing to limit myself to the subset of PHP that's the same in Perl and C, because I might want to switch languages one day and 'painlessly' port my code."



                          That just doesn't happen.



                          The cost of switching databases after an application is developed and deployed is quite high. You have possible schema and index changes, syntax changes, optimization and tuning work to re-do, hints to adjust or remove, and so on. Changing mysql_foo() to oracle_foo() is really the least of your problems. You're gonna touch most, if not all, of your SQL--or you'll at least need to verify it.



                          That doesn't sound "painless" to me.







                          share|improve this answer
























                            1












                            1








                            1






                            User Aaron Bertrand made some comments that align well with my thoughts on your question. This is more of a frame challenge than an answer to your specific question, but I think it's valuable to consider in this context.




                            Portability is a nice textbook goal, but it rarely happens in practice.




                            If you have to change platforms at some point, there will be changes needed to the application, the database, and probably many other things. If you can be somewhat "platform agnostic" without too much effort, that's fine. But it's really a bad business decision to use that as a design goal.



                            There are many places online where people discuss the downsides or programming this way, here's one of them that I find pretty compelling:



                            Database Abstraction Layers Must Die!




                            The Portability Fallacy



                            The author uses an argument I hear all the time: If you use a good abstraction layer, it'll be easy to move from $this_database to $other_database down the road.



                            That's bullshit. It's never easy.



                            In any non-trivial database backed application, nobody thinks of switching databases as an easy matter. Thinking that "the conversion will be painless" is a fantasy.



                            Good engineers try to select the best tools for the job and then do everything they can to take advantage of their tool's unique and most powerful features. In the database world, that means specific hints, indexing, data types, and even table structure decisions. If you truly limit yourself to the subset of features that is common across all major RDBMSes, you're doing yourself and your clients a huge disservice.



                            That's no different from saying "I'm doing to limit myself to the subset of PHP that's the same in Perl and C, because I might want to switch languages one day and 'painlessly' port my code."



                            That just doesn't happen.



                            The cost of switching databases after an application is developed and deployed is quite high. You have possible schema and index changes, syntax changes, optimization and tuning work to re-do, hints to adjust or remove, and so on. Changing mysql_foo() to oracle_foo() is really the least of your problems. You're gonna touch most, if not all, of your SQL--or you'll at least need to verify it.



                            That doesn't sound "painless" to me.







                            share|improve this answer












                            User Aaron Bertrand made some comments that align well with my thoughts on your question. This is more of a frame challenge than an answer to your specific question, but I think it's valuable to consider in this context.




                            Portability is a nice textbook goal, but it rarely happens in practice.




                            If you have to change platforms at some point, there will be changes needed to the application, the database, and probably many other things. If you can be somewhat "platform agnostic" without too much effort, that's fine. But it's really a bad business decision to use that as a design goal.



                            There are many places online where people discuss the downsides or programming this way, here's one of them that I find pretty compelling:



                            Database Abstraction Layers Must Die!




                            The Portability Fallacy



                            The author uses an argument I hear all the time: If you use a good abstraction layer, it'll be easy to move from $this_database to $other_database down the road.



                            That's bullshit. It's never easy.



                            In any non-trivial database backed application, nobody thinks of switching databases as an easy matter. Thinking that "the conversion will be painless" is a fantasy.



                            Good engineers try to select the best tools for the job and then do everything they can to take advantage of their tool's unique and most powerful features. In the database world, that means specific hints, indexing, data types, and even table structure decisions. If you truly limit yourself to the subset of features that is common across all major RDBMSes, you're doing yourself and your clients a huge disservice.



                            That's no different from saying "I'm doing to limit myself to the subset of PHP that's the same in Perl and C, because I might want to switch languages one day and 'painlessly' port my code."



                            That just doesn't happen.



                            The cost of switching databases after an application is developed and deployed is quite high. You have possible schema and index changes, syntax changes, optimization and tuning work to re-do, hints to adjust or remove, and so on. Changing mysql_foo() to oracle_foo() is really the least of your problems. You're gonna touch most, if not all, of your SQL--or you'll at least need to verify it.



                            That doesn't sound "painless" to me.








                            share|improve this answer












                            share|improve this answer



                            share|improve this answer










                            answered 24 mins ago









                            jadarnel27

                            3,3201329




                            3,3201329






















                                s.demuro is a new contributor. Be nice, and check out our Code of Conduct.










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