Collations is a topic that tends to confuse SQL Server professionals. It is not that the implementation of collations in SQL Server is extremely confusing, but computer people are not always prepared for the surprises that human language can offer. For instance, did you know that V and W could be considered equal? Or that i and I could be different in a case-insensitive comparison?

In this light-minded presentation I cover what a collation controls and I give a brief introduction to Unicode and other character sets, before I dissect a collation name like Latin1_General_100_CI_AS_KS_WS_SC_UTF8 to explain what all those components mean. I illustrate this by giving examples from different languages. I give particular attention to the UTF-8 collations added in SQL 2019. I cover two areas where collations induce some pain: metadata and collation conflicts. Finally, time permitting, I highlight two cases where the collation has a big impact on performance.

SQL-wise this is a level 200 session, but all the talk about human language has the potential melt the brains of experienced SQL people. The session is directed to developers and DBAs, not the least if you engage in data modelling.