Before anything else, first I’d like to thank Tobias Ternstrom, a senior PM with the Microsoft SQL Server dev team responsible for SQL programmability, for asking me to present this session at TechEd. It was a pleasure and great honor to discuss this subject.

My take on the topic wasn’t “SQL Server Denali will add the following support for window functions, enjoy.” Rather I wanted to explain how T-SQL evolved to supporting window functions in context. I explain what T-SQL was missing so far, and the challenges we faced with the more traditional T-SQL constructs. Then, in this context, I describe how SQL Server gradually added support for window functions, initially with partial support in SQL Server 2005, then with more complete support planned in SQL Server Denali.

Courtesy of Microsoft’s Channel 9, the session is available for viewing online here (full URL: http://channel9.msdn.com/Events/TechEd/NorthAmerica/2011/DBI310).

I also uploaded the slide deck and source code here (full URL: http://www.insidetsql.com/resources.htm#Source_code).

This is such a huge and profound topic that I decided to dedicate an entire book to it. I’m in the middle of the writing process, and expect to release it shortly after Denali RTMs to make sure all code is tested thoroughly against the final release. I will also naturally cover the topic in my column.

Cheers,

BG