comparing and contrasting Sybase and SQL Server

They share common history, they run on different operating systems. This is the part I know.

• what parts remain the same?
• which have changed since they split?
• is SQL Server knowledge still applicable to Sybase?
• what features available in Sql Server are not present in Sybase?
• which features that are present in Sybase are not available in SQL Server?

I'm interested in answers from people with comparable experience in both platforms.

Common history until 15 years ago 1994 up until SQL Server 4.21. SQL Server 6.0, 6.5 were splits. SQL Server 7 was a complete re-write and it was a truly different product to SQL Server 6.0, 6.5 which were the last of the "shared" code base.

The features are quite similar and a lot of system tables and stored procs can be run on both. However, the 2 systems don't really have much in common now except the locking strategy (as compared to Oracle or MVCC based systems).

Saying that, basic SQL is portable between the 2 and I've ported Sybase to SQL Server before.

I've also worked in/or with teams that manage both platform teams but the overlap is not as much as you expect or perhaps hope for.

Why do you ask? I wouldn't plan a career on Sybase unless you work in Banking IT...