Decision Factor: Benefits of Computed Columns

Any computed column can be computed in a query. So how do you decide when to design a computed column?

In the following BOL example the hard-wired expression may make it a good candidate for a (server-side) computed column: you don't want the developers to get confused and reinvent their own formula for thebusiness rule to calculate RetailValue in client apps:

ALTER TABLE dbo.Products ADD RetailValue AS (QtyAvailable * UnitPrice * 1.5);

Kalman Toth Database & OLAP Architect SELECT Video Tutorials 4 Hours
New Book / Kindle: Exam 70-461 Bootcamp: Querying Microsoft SQL Server 2012