In this chapter, we have taken a look at the new additions in the developer toolset for SQL Server 2017. There have been some long-awaited improvements made, especially the separation of SQL Server Management Studio from the release cycle of SQL Server itself. The accelerated release cycle of SSMS has brought a breadth of new features and support that will help developers in their daily work with SQL Server.

Some of the featured additions to SSMS are quite powerful and will allow us as developers to be more efficient. Live Query Statistics provides us with excellent insights into how our queries are actually processed, removing parts of the guessing game when trying to refactor or tune our queries. The Vulnerability Assessment tool should allow for quicker identification of potential security threats inside our databases. A safer database means a safer business! 

For SQL Server developers, there are two new development environments for developing the R code. Of course, one of them, the RStudio IDE, is well-known among R developers. Because it is so widely used, it will probably be the first choice when developing R code,and also for SQL Server developers. Nevertheless, if you are used to and love the Visual Studio IDE, you might give R Tools for Visual Studio a try.

After this short excursion into the tools that are delivered with SQL Server 2017, we will continue our journey through the new features and technologies in SQL Server 2017 in the next chapter.