During the past months, in between working on new videos, I have also made various updates to existing videos in the SQLServerFast Execution Plan Video Training. Since I pushed two really big updates (over half an hour of added content!) live today, I decided that now is a good time to let everyone know what I changed. But let’s first address a few questions you might have.
Questions and answers
How does this affect the prices?
Many of the changes are small, as you will see in the overview below. However, two videos have been extended with a significant amount of new content. Enough to warrant, in my opinion, a small price hike.
This affects only the basic level of block 6, where the new content has been added. Chapter 5 of this level, which has been extended from 48:39 to 1:10:17, will go up in price from $24.95 to $34.95. This will also raise the price for the full block from $99.95 to $109.95. Note that chapter 1, which also has a lot of added content (from 28:17 to 44:26), does not go up in price!
The good news is that this new price will not go into effect immediately! Probably in a week or so, June 20, I will effectuate this price change. Until then, you can still get access to these videos for the old price!
I already bought the videos you changed. Do I need to pay again?
No! Absolutely not.
When you bought access to the videos, you bought access to them for as long as they remain inline. If you now go to the videos you bought, you should still be able to watch them. (You might need to click purchase and then refresh before actually purchasing, to ensure that you are logged in to your Vimeo account).
And if you watch any video that I have updated, you will always see the newest version. So you can see all the new content, without even having to pay again, and even without having to pay the price difference. That is the benefit of buying access early!
Do I have to watch the entire video again?
Of course not! I understand that your time is valuable.
Once you buy access to one or more of my videos, you can watch them as often as you like, at any playback speed you want, with or without captions. So if you want a refresher, go ahead and watch them again!
But if you only want to see the new content, then read the information below. Where relevant, I will tell you exactly where in each video you can find the new content.
Do you always describe your updates on your blog?
No, I usually don’t. I made an exception this time, because of the size of this update, and the scheduled price change.
Sometimes I make changes to a video that are so minor that I see no need to inform anyone. These are typically minor corrections, such as a spelling error in a caption or on a slide, or changes in the references to other videos. Nobody will ever re-watch a video for these changes, so I just make the change and move on.
For other changes, I use my newsletter, which I send perhaps two or three times per year. In that newsletter, you are informed of updates to existing videos, early bird offers for new videos, and other important news. You can click here to subscribe. Don’t worry, I will only use your email to send the newsletter, and you can always request to be removed from the list.
I have another question
My apologies for not predicting your question. Please contact me, and I will answer you as soon as possible!
Overview of changes
Okay, now that all your questions are answered, let’s look at what changes I made.
Various videos
I revised some of the content and chapter names for planned but not yet created blocks (especially block 7). This resulted in modifications to videos that have references to these chapters. There is absolutely no need to re-watch these videos if you already watched them, so I will not even list the affected videos here.
Block 1: Understanding Execution Plans, advanced level
Only one chapter in this level has a change that is (barely) worth mentioning.
Chapter 5: Batch mode versus row mode
I corrected an error. Partial Aggregate was missing on the list of operations that could run in batch mode in SQL Server 2012. This is now corrected.
To see the new content, you only need to watch from 23:10 to 23:16.
Block 2: Reading data, advanced level
Again, only a single chapter was affected. But with a bigger change than the former.
Chapter 1: Columnstore indexes
I added coverage of ordered columnstore indexes (added in SQL Server 2022), and of the delete buffer (added in SQL Server 2016 for nonclustered columnstore indexes only).
To see the new content, watch from 14:50 to 16:39 and from 38:27 to 44:18.
Block 6: Sorting and grouping, basic level
This is where most of the changes are found. Three of the five chapters were updated, for a total of over 40 minutes added content!
Chapter 1: Stream Aggregate
I had originally planned to cover rollup processing (a special variation within Stream Aggregate that is used for queries that specify ROLLUP, CUBE, or GROUPING SETS) in the advanced level. But I realized it did not fit in any of the planned videos for that level. I could have created a video just for this topic, but that would have become a too short video. So I decided to add this content to the basic level instead.
This added 16:09 watch time to the video (12:38 of which is demos), so that the total watch time is now 44:26 (25:43 demos). To see the new content, watch from 14:50 to 16:39 and from 19:36 to 35:36.
Chapter 3: Sort
I added some content to show that the Top N Sort logical operation of this operators only accepts a hardcoded integer value for the number of rows to return, and that it does not support the WITH TIES and PERCENT options.
This added 1:48 watch time to the video, almost all in a demo (1:36). The the total watch time is now 27:10 (13:15 demos). To see the new content, watch from 24:06 to 25:56.
Chapter 5: Window Spool
I extended this chapter with explanations and demos of how Window Spool is used in some special cases, specifically the analytic functions FIRST_VALUE, LAST_VALUE, LAG, and LEAD. I had originally planned to cover this in the advanced level, but I realized that the difficulty level of this content is better suited for the basic level.
As a result, this is now the longest chapter in the entire library! A total of 21:38 was added to this video, pushing it to a whopping 1:10:17 (36:41 demos). Here, you can find the new content from 45:40 to 1:07:20.
Summary
I am constantly working on the SQLServerFast Execution Plan Video Training videos. My main goal is to create new videos, currently for the advanced level of block 6. But I am also constantly updating the existing content.
Today’s update was a big one, with over 45 minutes of new content added to various videos. Anyone who already bought access to these videos can watch the new content without having to pay an additional price. And the same goes for anyone who buys access now, while the videos are still at the old price. However, somewhere around June 20, I will raise some of the prices to reflect the extra content that is now included. So if you want to benefit from the current, lower price – act quickly!
And if you want to remain updated on future changes to the SQLServerFast Execution Plan Video Training, all you need to do is subscribe to the newsletter.
