Developer's Crossing

Miller's Crossing is one of my favorite movies, and is in my opinion the brightest gem in the Coen brothers' crown, despite the fact that few people know about it when compared to Fargo or Raising Arizona and the rest. If you've never seen it, and you like complex plots, flawed anti-heroes and a bit of odd humor, and don't mind a little violence (ok, a lot of violence) here and there, you owe it to yourself to watch it.


But what does this have to do with SQL Server and BI?


Complexity, that's what.


Consider this quote from Tom Reagan (played by Gabriel Byrne)

"Nobody knows anybody. Not that well."

Sound familiar? When was the last time you felt like you really knew a lot (or knew "everything" for the really smart readers out there) about SQL Server? I remember when I decided to "specialize in SQL Server." Then I decided to "specialize in SQL Server development." And now I'm on the cusp of specializing in SQL Server BI (which actually seems like an increase in scope, but perhaps that's just me) because the breadth of the product has gotten so large that one brain (ok, my brain) cannot encompass it all.

This all struck home today when someone I know (I won't name any names, but he doesn't have a blog) asked me a question that I thought fell very well into his personal specialization. As this is a person whose technical knowledge I respect greatly, it got me thinking, and in the process of working with him to find the solution, this quote filtered up from the depths of my brain.

And that's it. So as the USB hub said to the thumb drive... "Take your flunky and dongle."