Azure SQL Devs’ Corner
Voices from the Azure SQL PM Team, focusing on development and developers
Latest posts
Vector Search with Azure SQL, Semantic Kernel and Entity Framework Core
Vector databases like Qdrant and Milvus are specifically designed to efficiently store, manage, and retrieve embeddings. However, many applications already use relational databases like SQL Server or SQL Azure. In such cases, installing and managing another database can be challenging, especially since these vector databases may not offer all the features of a modern relational database like Azure SQL or SQL Server. This is where the new vector data type in SQL Azure becomes extremely useful. It allows you to create Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG) solutions by storing embeddings in the same place as y...
Build a Streamlit application with Fabric SQL Database
Building an application allows you to operationalize the data you have in Microsoft Fabric, such that it can be consumed by stakeholders in your organization to generate business insights. Streamlit is easy to use to build simple applications without needing to know front-end application frameworks like Flask, Django etc. It makes it easier to prototype and visualize your data in Microsoft Fabric with Streamlit framework. In this blog post we will show how to develop an app using Streamlit and Fabric SQL database. Consider a scenario that you are a data engineer in a retail company and want to keep track of y...
Exploring SQL Server Integration with .NET Aspire: A Collection of Hands-On Samples
I'm happy to share a new GitHub repository with developers: azure-sql-db-aspire. This collection of eight hands-on examples demonstrates how to integrate SQL Server and Azure SQL with .NET Aspire, making it easier to build modern, cloud-native applications. Why .NET Aspire for SQL Server? .NET Aspire is a new opinionated, cloud-ready stack for .NET applications that simplifies development, observability, and orchestration. SQL Server and Azure SQL are well-supported, allowing developers to quickly integrate databases into their applications while benefiting from Aspire’s service discovery, dependency injection,...
MSSQL Extension for VS Code: What’s new and what’s next
The MSSQL Extension for VS Code continues to evolve, bringing powerful new features and enhancements that make SQL development more seamless and efficient. In this update, we’re excited to share the latest improvements in v1.29.0 and give you a sneak peek at what’s coming next in our open roadmap. This extension is designed for developers working with Azure SQL (including Azure SQL Database, Azure SQL Managed Instance, and SQL Server on Azure VMs), SQL Database in Fabric (Preview), or SQL Server as a backend. With a rich set of features for connecting to databases, managing schemas, executing queries, and visual...
Exciting new T-SQL features: Regex support, Fuzzy string-matching, and bigint support in DATEADD – preview
We are thrilled to announce the public preview of three powerful T-SQL features that will elevate your SQL queries: Regular Expressions (Regex) support, Fuzzy string-matching, and bigint support in DATEADD. These enhancements are now available in Azure SQL Database and SQL Database in Microsoft Fabric, offering developers more flexibility, efficiency, and precision in their data operations. They will also help simplify complex operations that previously required workarounds or external processing. In this post, we'll explore the capabilities of each feature, provide practical examples, and explain how they wil...
Go passwordless when calling Azure OpenAI from Azure SQL using Managed Identities
Security is a significant topic today, and the ability to access a service requiring authentication without using an API key, password, or secret is a common request from those concerned about the security of a solution, which includes all of us. In today's digital landscape, cybersecurity threats are increasingly sophisticated and frequent, making it imperative to protect sensitive information. Traditional methods of authentication, such as passwords and API keys, are often susceptible to breaches and misuse. As a result, there is growing interest in alternative, more secure authentication methods. Azure S...
Building an AI App GraphQL Endpoint with SQL DB in Fabric
Welcome to an exciting, new workshop where we blend the power of AI with the versatility of GraphQL and SQL databases in Microsoft Fabric. This guide will walk you through creating a set of GraphQL RAG (Retrieval-Augmented Generation) application APIs, leveraging relational data and Azure OpenAI. What You’ll Learn You’ll dive into querying and managing data within SQL databases in Microsoft Fabric and mastering the art of building AI application endpoints. We’ll explore how to seamlessly integrate AI with relational data and enhance your queries with similarity searching. The Adventure Begins Here is the chap...
Database and AI: solutions for keeping embeddings updated
In the previous article of this series, it was discussed how embeddings can be quickly created from data already in Azure SQL. This is a useful starting point, but since data in a database changes frequently, a common question arises: “How can the vectors be kept updated whenever there is a change to the content from which they have been generated?” This article aims to address that question. Solutions to keep embeddings updated Several methods can be employed to ensure that embeddings are updated to reflect any modifications made to the content from which they are generated: This i...
External REST Endpoint Invocation in Azure SQL Managed Instance is now in Public Preview
External REST Endpoint Invocation is available in Azure SQL Managed Instance with the Always-up-to-date update policy configured. Call Azure Services such as functions, Azure OpenAI, event hubs, content safety and more! To enable this feature in Azure SQL Managed Instance, run the following code: To execute sp_configure to change a configuration option or to run the RECONFIGURE statement, a user must be granted the ALTER SETTINGS server-level permission. The ALTER SETTINGS permission is implicitly held by the sysadmin and serveradmin fixed server roles. Examples and sample code can be found here and a wo...