What Is Transact-SQL (T-SQL)?

Transact-SQL is a special kind of SQL that Microsoft uses very efficiently and effectively. You can think of it as the common language used by all of the different computers and applications in the world to communicate with each other. What does this mean for you? It means that if you're using SQL Server or any other product that supports Transact-SQL, you can use it to access data from multiple sources, including databases and web services. It is primarily compatible with ANSI SQL but has some significant differences. T-SQL is the Microsoft implementation of SQL. It is the language most Microsoft SQL Server DBAs (Database Administrators) use to work with data in SQL Server. T-SQL is a mix of English and computer code. English words are used to name stored procedures, views, and tables. Computer code is used to specify data types or create indexes. Transact-SQL is the successor to Microsoft's Sybase SQL, a language designed for working with databases. It supports all the standard features of ANSI SQL, plus several enhancements. For example, T-SQL supports Control-of-Flow language, which lets you create loops and decision branches in your code. T-SQL also supports local variables, providing an easy way to store data without defining a table first. So, T-SQL lets you update and delete data much faster than SQL. It's constructive if you're working with large amounts of data! T-SQL is a language used to query and manage data in SQL Server. You can run T-SQL code in SSMS, a graphical tool for managing SQL Server, or you can use sqlcmd, the command-line tool that works like MS-DOS. In addition to running T-SQL statements at the command line, you can also use it to connect to a database and execute queries against it.