SQL Server Source Control Basics

Few software developers would build an application without using source control, but its adoption for databases has been slower. Yet without source control to maintain the scripts necessary to create our database objects, load lookup data, and take other actions, we cannot guarantee a reliable and repeatable database deployment process, let alone coordinate database upgrades with changes to the application. We also run the risk that our "ad hoc" database patching will cause inconsistencies and data loss.

Source control can and should play a key role in the database development and deployment process, and this book will show you exactly how to get started. It provides 'just enough' detail about the core components of a source control system and how to incorporate that system into the database development and deployment processes, covering:

• Database Source Control architecture - what to include, how to structure the components
• Collaborative editing - teamwork on a database project, while minimizing change conflicts and data loss.
• Change auditing - what changed between versions and who changed it?
• Branching -work independently on separate features and control what to deploy and when
• Merging - what happens if one user changes a column name while another updates its data type? A merge operation lets the team decide the correct outcome
• Building and Deploying databases - building new databases and upgrading existing ones from source control

Every chapter follows the same "half-theory, half practice" template, so you learn the concepts then see how they work.