Book excerpt: T-SQL insiders help you tackle your toughest queries and query-tuning problems Squeeze maximum performance and efficiency from every T-SQL query you write or tune. Four leading experts take an in-depth look at T-SQL’s internal architecture and offer advanced practical techniques for optimizing response time and resource usage. Emphasizing a correct understanding of the language and its foundations, the authors present unique solutions they have spent years developing and refining. All code and techniques are fully updated to reflect new T-SQL enhancements in Microsoft SQL Server 2014 and SQL Server 2012. Write faster, more efficient T-SQL code: Move from procedural programming to the language of sets and logic Master an efficient top-down tuning methodology Assess algorithmic complexity to predict performance Compare data aggregation techniques, including new grouping sets Efficiently perform data-analysis calculations Make the most of T-SQL’s optimized bulk import tools Avoid date/time pitfalls that lead to buggy, poorly performing code Create optimized BI statistical queries without additional software Use programmable objects to accelerate queries Unlock major performance improvements with In-Memory OLTP Master useful and elegant approaches to manipulating graphs About This Book For experienced T-SQL practitioners Includes coverage updated from Inside Microsoft SQL Server 2008 T-SQL Querying and Inside Microsoft SQL Server 2008 T-SQL Programming Valuable to developers, DBAs, BI professionals, and data scientists Covers many MCSE 70-464 and MCSA/MCSE 70-461 exam topics