Devart

10/14/2026

🆚 What's the best SSMS alternative for SQL Server in 2026?

SSMS is still a go-to IDE in 2026, now with GitHub Copilot Chat and native Git integration. So when does another SQL Server tool make more sense? In a new video guide, Trevoir Williams, software engineer and instructor, ranks five SSMS alternatives by how well they fit a team's daily work.

🍿 Watch the full ranking to see which tool best suits your team: https://youtu.be/-_nVENFeh7A

The author compares the tools on database breadth, development experience, and team delivery, then goes hands-on with a development-to-staging workflow in dbForge Studio for SQL Server. The demo covers schema drift detection with Schema Compare, reference data sync with Data Compare, tSQLt-based unit testing, CI/CD automation, and an AI Assistant that learns the context of your actual database.

⚡ Get dbForge Studio for SQL Server, the AI-powered IDE for the full database lifecycle: https://www.devart.com/dbforge/sql/studio/download.html

Beyond the dev-to-staging scenario, dbForge Studio for SQL Server also handles T-SQL coding and debugging, test data generation, documentation, reporting, and administration.

SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS) remains a go-to IDE in 2026, es...

10/12/2026

🐘 What is PostgreSQL? Features, uses, and benefits

PostgreSQL has gone from a database developers respected to the one they reach for first. Today, 55.6% of all developers use it, and for many new projects it's the default choice. But what pushed it ahead of so many alternatives?

📖 Learn what makes PostgreSQL different and whether it fits your next project: https://www.devart.com/blog/what-is-postgresql.html

The guide explains how PostgreSQL runs your queries, keeps data consistent, and handles many users at once. You'll see the features teams choose it for, from storing documents right next to regular tables to plugins for maps and AI search, and where it needs extra care as your data grows. It also compares PostgreSQL with MySQL, SQL Server, and MongoDB, then gives beginners a getting-started path and a set of best practices.

⚡ Download the AI-powered dbForge Studio for PostgreSQL and put the basics into practice on your own database: https://www.devart.com/dbforge/postgresql/studio/download.html

From your first SELECT to production tuning, dbForge Studio for PostgreSQL covers the whole workflow: SQL editing, profiling, and debugging, schema and data comparison, and test data generation. dbForge AI Assistant adds context-aware help to generate, explain, and optimize your SQL.

10/09/2026

🌿 Database branching explained: How it works and when to use it

Code gets its own branch, but the database often doesn't. The result is database sprawl: according to K2view's 2026 State of Enterprise Data Compliance survey, the average enterprise maintains 29 copies of its production databases across development, testing, and analytics.

📖 Learn how database branching gives every developer and test run an isolated database, and where the model starts to break down: https://www.devart.com/blog/database-branching-explained.html

The guide covers:

▪︎ Schema-only and schema-and-data branches
▪︎ Zero-copy branching with copy-on-write
▪︎ Branch-per-pull-request workflows in CI/CD
▪︎ Four branching strategies
▪︎ Fixes for common problems such as branch sprawl, stale branches, and sensitive data in lower environments

⚡ Bring source control, schema comparison, data tools, and deployment workflows together with dbForge Edge: https://www.devart.com/dbforge/edge/download.html

When one release spans SQL Server, MySQL, MariaDB, PostgreSQL, Oracle, or a wide range of cloud services, dbForge Edge helps teams manage and review those cross-database changes.

10/08/2026

✨ dbForge Studio for PostgreSQL: AI-powered development, management, analysis, and automation

PostgreSQL development involves much more than writing and executing queries. Developers build applications, DBAs maintain performance and reliability, analysts turn raw data into insights, and DevOps teams automate database delivery through CI/CD pipelines.

🍿 Watch how dbForge Studio for PostgreSQL supports each of these roles: https://youtu.be/ZSrL8LB5kTs

This overview walks you through SQL coding with the SQL Editor, Query Builder, and Query Profiler, visual database design, data editing, test data generation, schema and data comparison, pivot tables and reports, and CLI-powered automation. The integrated context-aware dbForge AI Assistant generates SQL queries, explains code, optimizes existing queries, and suggests ways to resolve potential ex*****on issues.

⚡ Cover the full database lifecycle, from development to deployment, with dbForge Studio for PostgreSQL: https://www.devart.com/dbforge/postgresql/studio/download.html

dbForge Studio works with on-premises PostgreSQL and related cloud environments, including Supabase, Heroku, Amazon Redshift, TimescaleDB, Amazon RDS, Amazon Aurora, Azure Database for PostgreSQL, and much more.

PostgreSQL database development involves much more than writing and...

10/05/2026

🔍 Top 10 SQL GUI Tools for Teams in 2026

Most teams don't run a single database anymore. SQL Server here, PostgreSQL there, MySQL somewhere else, and a SQL GUI built for just one of them stops being fast enough.

📖 Read the full comparison of 10 SQL GUI tools for teams: https://dbajamey.github.io/awesome-database-tools/best-sql-gui-tools-for-teams/

The comparison ranks dbForge Edge first among ten tools, pointing to its support for SQL Server, MySQL, MariaDB, Oracle, PostgreSQL, and 30+ related cloud services. The feature set is also versatile, including tools for SQL development, schema and data comparison, CLI automation, and an integrated context-aware AI Assistant.

⚡ Try the AI-powered dbForge Edge: https://www.devart.com/dbforge/edge/download.html

dbForge Edge starts with a free Express edition, so you can try the unified workflow across your own database stack before deciding on the paid plan.

09/30/2026

🔁 What Is a Cursor in SQL? Syntax, Examples, and SQL Server Usage

A cursor loops through your result set one row at a time. That's exactly what makes it flexible for row-specific logic, and exactly why it's usually the slowest way to update a table.

👀 See where a cursor actually earns its place, and where a JOIN or CTE beats it every time: https://www.devart.com/dbforge/sql/studio/what-is-cursor-in-sql.html

The guide walks through the DECLARE, OPEN, FETCH, CLOSE, DEALLOCATE lifecycle, SQL Server-specific cursor types like FAST_FORWARD and KEYSET, and cases when a cursor should be used instead of a set-based query, a JOIN, a CTE, or a window function.

⚡ Download dbForge Studio for SQL Server for free and try it on your own cursor-based queries: https://www.devart.com/dbforge/sql/studio/download.html

The Studio’s integrated dbForge AI Assistant easily generates cursor-based SQL, then tells you when a set-based alternative would actually perform better.

09/29/2026

🎯 The Future DBA: From Manual Tuning to Orchestrating AI-Powered Toolchains

One in three DBAs say they might want to leave the profession, according to SolarWinds' 2025 State of Database Report. The work keeps growing, teams don't, and that's the real reason AI is showing up in database operations, not because DBAs forgot how to tune a query.

The shift isn't replacing DBAs, it's changing what they spend time on: less manual investigation, more orchestrating AI assistants, query optimization tools, and CI/CD pipelines together, while still owning every decision that reaches production.

👉 Check the full piece on how the role of a DBA is evolving: https://databaseinsights.hashnode.dev/the-future-dba-from-manual-tuning-to-orchestrating-ai-powered-toolchains

✅ Explore the AI-powered dbForge ecosystem: https://www.devart.com/dbforge/

dbForge AI Assistant is built for exactly that first step: explaining and drafting SQL from a schema-aware chat, so the DBA validates the recommendation instead of writing it from scratch.

09/28/2026

🚀 dbForge 2026.2 brings a built-in PostgreSQL Debugger, new visual editors, and a lot more

PostgreSQL developers, this one's especially for you: as part of the wider dbForge 2026.2 release, dbForge Studio for PostgreSQL now ships with a brand-new embedded Debugger, no additional extensions or manual setup required.

What our Debugger lets you do:

🔴 Set breakpoints to pause ex*****on at specific lines.
👣 Step through code line by line to see exactly how it runs.
📊 Monitor the current values of variables, expressions, and query results to see how data changes during ex*****on.
⚠️ Handle exceptions with the exact line where the error occurs highlighted for you.

Equally important: this release adds new visual editors for PostgreSQL functions, procedures, and event triggers, broader context awareness in dbForge AI Assistant, and a free Express edition of the Assistant itself.

👉 See everything that's new in dbForge 2026.2: https://www.devart.com/blog/whats-new-in-dbforge-2026-2-2.html

The update can be installed via Help → Check for Updates.

🧑‍💻 Try dbForge Studio for PostgreSQL for free: https://www.devart.com/dbforge/postgresql/studio/download.html

🐞 Explore more about PostgreSQL Debugger: https://www.devart.com/dbforge/postgresql/studio/postgresql-debugger.html

Just open your code and start debugging PostgreSQL right in dbForge Studio.

09/25/2026

🧱 PostgreSQL Data Types and Constraints: Two Guides for Solid Database Development

A column typed as TEXT instead of DATE loses you sorting and filtering. A missing CHECK constraint lets a negative price slip straight into your orders table. Data types and constraints are the two things that decide what your database actually lets in.

📖 Discover the PostgreSQL data type guide, with every type mapped to its storage size and best use case: https://www.devart.com/dbforge/postgresql/studio/postgresql-data-types.html

📖 Explore the guide to constraints, covering NOT NULL, CHECK, UNIQUE, FOREIGN KEY, EXCLUDE, and PostgreSQL's newer temporal constraints: https://www.devart.com/dbforge/postgresql/studio/postgresql-constraints.html

dbForge Studio for PostgreSQL helps with both!

⚡ Try the AI-powered dbForge Studio for PostgreSQL for free: https://www.devart.com/dbforge/postgresql/studio/download.html

The Studio pairs visual table design with schema (and data) comparison, so a missing constraint or wrong data type shows before it reaches another environment.

09/23/2026

🔥 dbForge 2026.2 is here, and now dbForge AI Assistant gets smarter!

This release comes with a whole set of database development upgrades, and one especially good reason to jump in: dbForge AI Assistant just got a lot more accessible.

What's new in the AI Assistant?

🧠 Broader context: attach files, sample code, and even multiple databases to the same chat.

🤖 Model selection: choose between Anthropic Claude and OpenAI GPT

🆓 Free Express edition: keep using dbForge AI Assistant for free even after your trial ends, and upgrade anytime for a larger token allowance and unlimited chat history.

Also, dbForge 2026.2 presents an embedded PostgreSQL Debugger, new visual editors for PostgreSQL functions, procedures, and event triggers, and a number of SQL development enhancements across the dbForge solutions.

👉 Full details on all dbForge 2026.2 updates: https://www.devart.com/blog/whats-new-in-dbforge-2026-2-2.html

The update can be installed via Help → Check for Updates.

✅ Or try it immediately, if you're new to the dbForge ecosystem: https://www.devart.com/dbforge/ .

🧑‍💻 And start with dbForge AI Assistant for free: https://www.devart.com/dbforge/ai-assistant/ .

See how AI assistance can help you with your daily database work.