It's said that amateurs practice until they can get something right. Professionals practice until they don't do something wrong. That's the idea, and while professionals make mistakes, they make far fewer than those that don't approach their endeavor as a professional task.

Many of us in the data industry develop software in some way. Whether we write queries in T-SQL or build projects in .NET, we produce code to accomplish some task. I'd like to think that many of us improve our skills over time, preferably by practicing new techniques and learning form our mistakes. I know some people stick with the tried and true methods without gaining skill over time, which not only hurts one's career, but also doesn't give your employer a reason to value your work.

Read the rest of "Practicing Deployments" at SQLServerCentral.