What is the difference between SQL and T-SQL? Why would a company use one over the other?
This question posed on 14 February 2002
ANSI SQL is the standard Structured Query Language. Most database vendors support SQL. T-SQL is Microsoft’s “flavor” of SQL; it is ANSI SQL with Microsoft’s extensions. A company could choose to use T-SQL over SQL if they have a database application that communicates with a MS SQL Server database only. Therefore a developer could use the “extras” for improved performance, ease of SQL coding, etc. A company could chose SQL because a front-end may have to communicate with several relational database management systems (RDBMs) therefore a programmer could rely on the fact that most database understand ANSI SQL.