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Database

SQL Server

Microsoft's flagship relational database.

Official site
Monthly cost
$0+ / mo
Developer free; licensing from ~$900/core
Popularity
4/5
LLM knowledge
5/5
Difficulty
Hard
#enterprise

What SQL Server is good at

Strengths
  • +Enterprise features
  • +Great tooling
  • +T-SQL
Tradeoffs
  • Expensive licenses
  • Heavy install

Coding-agent prompt

You're working with SQL Server. Microsoft's flagship relational database.

Best practices:
- Lean on: enterprise features
- Lean on: great tooling
- Lean on: t-sql

Things to watch for:
- Watch out for: expensive licenses
- Watch out for: heavy install

General guidance:
- Canonical docs: https://www.microsoft.com/sql-server — check here before inventing APIs.
- Keep secrets in environment variables, never commit them.
- Write TypeScript where the ecosystem supports it; add types to every exported function.
- Add tests for the critical paths before declaring the task done.
- Read-the-docs is usually faster than guessing — cite the docs page in code comments when you apply a non-obvious pattern.

Beginner's guide to SQL Server

In one line: Microsoft's flagship relational database — a staple in enterprise.

SQL Server is Microsoft's big-league relational database. Powerful tooling, especially with .NET. Expensive licenses in production.

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