About two years ago I presented a talk to a couple of SQL Server user groups where I explained in general terms how SQL Server executes queries.  I explained how to read showplan and how some of the most common operators (such as index scans and seeks, joins, and aggregation) actually work.  I received a lot of positive feedback from these talks and I’ve decided to try to capture some of these topics in this blog.  If you have questions or comments, I’m very interested to hear what you think and what you’d like me to write about and I’ll do my best to respond.