SQL Server
SQL Server Integration Services was originally labeled as the new DTS during the Yukon beta in pre-2005 but it was such a different animal that Microsoft, wisely, renamed the product giving no illusion that there was anything but a steep learning curve. SSIS provided scalability, performance, debugging and a brand new architecture based on .NET for extensibility. So when we used the scripting task we could surely use any .NET language. Wrong! In SSIS 2005 Scripting tasks had to use VB.NET. No ifs or buts. This was restrictive especially if the rest of your application code was written in C#.NET. The scripting engine has now, in SSIS 2008, been re-written to support Visual Studio Tools for Applications (VSTA). This allows easier referencing of all .NET assemblies and therefore more flexibility but most of all, the ability to code scripts in C#.NET. You can also add a Web reference to your code allowing access to objects and methods provided by a Web service.All in all, it means you can choose to use many of the cool Visual Studio features from within your scripting environment. As always, it’s good to have a choice. Cheers Brian
