2026-11-13:

• Added a bonus module: Guess the Index, where you have to guess which index SQL Server will pick on the query plan.

2026-11-02:

• Added a bonus demo module on where NVARCHAR(4000) and NVARCHAR(MAX) values are stored, why it isn't dictated by their data types, why it doesn't usually matter, and why they're not usually indexed.
• Updated the Lab: Designing Indexes for the WHERE Clause
• Final Lab: showed how to do it with Copilot, ChatGPT's web UI, and Claude Code's desktop app

2026-07-13: First live class rotation for 2026! Lots of changes:

• "Good Defaults for New Tables" chapter - all new
• "How to Visualize Indexes" chapter - all new
• "Designing Indexes at Scale" chapter - all new, some taken from Mastering Index Tuning, some new about doing AI-driven index analysis
• "How to Maintain Databases in 2026" chapter - all new, and I'm really excited about the new animations I built for this one
• "Recap" chapter - all new

Even if you've been through Fundamentals of Index Tuning before in prior years, you're going to want to restart this one from scratch.