<div>
Performance is not a considered as of now. Will see to if required. Also this kind of solution is already given by Ryan. Also note that TOP 1 , Cross Apply, Small Order By performances better. &nbsp;This is because small sorts scales really well. Try it out with a Million Record. &nbsp;E.g. Million Records - Transaction table .. 
For each product , get last transaction date with product information.
</div>

<div>
Sorry - didn't see the solution by Ryan. It is similar. 
 
As for whether CROSS APPLY is better, it's a case of &quot;it depends&quot;. The trade off is between I/O and CPU. So, depending upon the resource available and critical, the decision can be made. 
 
In a trivial query where no major mathematical operations are being done, the read counts in case of CROSS APPLY will be higher, but CPU time (as captured by STATISTICS TIME and STATISTICS IO) will be lower (due to the smaller data set). 
 
For example, in the test below (run on a basic Core2Duo with 2GB RAM, MAXDOP = 1) the reads required in the windowing function based approach are less, but it needs more CPU. The CROSS APPLY needs more reads, but less CPU. 
 

<pre><code class="code-100 nolinks" id="code-20-41835091-1">USE tempdb;
GO
/*
Number of rows: 1,213,170
-----------------------------------------------------
Results (Compiled). Detailed results towards the end
-----------------------------------------------------
Windowing Function: Table 'HugeSalesOrder'. Scan count 1, logical reads 5613, physical reads 2, read-ahead reads 5600, lob logical reads 0, lob physical reads 0, lob read-ahead reads 0.
CROSS APPLY method: Table 'HugeSalesOrder'. Scan count 121318, logical reads 370118, physical reads 2, read-ahead reads 5600, lob logical reads 0, lob physical reads 0, lob read-ahead reads 0.

Windowing Function: Table 'Product'. Scan count 1, logical reads 15, physical reads 1, read-ahead reads 17, lob logical reads 0, lob physical reads 0, lob read-ahead reads 0.
CROSS APPLY method: Table 'Product'. Scan count 0, logical reads 242634, physical reads 3, read-ahead reads 0, lob logical reads 0, lob physical reads 0, lob read-ahead reads 0.

Windowing Function: CPU time = 1171 ms, elapsed time = 12644 ms.
CROSS APPLY method: CPU time = 1109 ms, elapsed time = 11008 ms.

Conclusion:
Windowing Function: More CPU, less reads &amp; scans
CROSS APPLY method: Less CPU, more reads &amp; scans
*/
SET NOCOUNT ON;
--Safety Check
IF OBJECT_ID('dbo.HugeSalesOrder','U') IS NOT NULL
 DROP TABLE dbo.HugeSalesOrder;
GO

CREATE TABLE dbo.HugeSalesOrder (SalesOrderId INT NOT NULL, 
 SalesOrderDetailId INT NOT NULL,
 ProductId INT NOT NULL,
 TransactionDate DATETIME NOT NULL,
 CarrierTrackingNumber VARCHAR(255) NULL,
 CONSTRAINT pk_HugeSalesOrder PRIMARY KEY CLUSTERED (SalesOrderId, 
 SalesOrderDetailId, 
 ProductId, 
 TransactionDate
 )
 );
GO

INSERT INTO dbo.HugeSalesOrder (SalesOrderId, SalesOrderDetailId, ProductId, TransactionDate, CarrierTrackingNumber)
SELECT sod.SalesOrderID,
 sod.SalesOrderDetailID,
 sod.ProductID,
 DATEADD(DAY, so.[increment], sod.ModifiedDate) AS TransactionDate,
 sod.CarrierTrackingNumber
FROM AdventureWorks2014.Sales.SalesOrderDetail AS sod
CROSS JOIN (VALUES (1),
 (2),
 (3),
 (4),
 (5),
 (6),
 (7),
 (8),
 (9),
 (10)
 ) AS so(increment);
GO

--Check # of rows available
SELECT COUNT(*) FROM dbo.HugeSalesOrder;
GO

CHECKPOINT;
DBCC DROPCLEANBUFFERS;
DBCC FREEPROCCACHE;
GO
PRINT '*********************************************************'
PRINT 'Query 1 Execution. Statistics output after this point.';
PRINT '*********************************************************'
GO
SELECT 'Query 1 Start' AS Operation, GETDATE() AS LogTime;

SET STATISTICS TIME ON;
SET STATISTICS IO ON;
--Rank-based solution
SELECT RankedRows.SalesOrderId, 
 RankedRows.SalesOrderDetailId, 
 RankedRows.ProductId, 
 RankedRows.TransactionDate, 
 RankedRows.CarrierTrackingNumber,
 advProduct.Name AS ProductName,
 advProduct.ProductLine,
 advProduct.ProductNumber
FROM (SELECT jd.[SalesOrderId],
 jd.[SalesOrderDetailId],
 jd.[ProductId],
 jd.[TransactionDate],
 jd.[CarrierTrackingNumber],
 RANK() OVER (PARTITION BY jd.[SalesOrderId],
 jd.[SalesOrderDetailId],
 jd.[ProductId] 
 ORDER BY jd.[TransactionDate] ASC) AS RowRank
 FROM dbo.HugeSalesOrder AS jd
 ) AS RankedRows (SalesOrderId, SalesOrderDetailId, ProductId, TransactionDate, CarrierTrackingNumber, RowRank)
INNER JOIN AdventureWorks2014.Production.Product AS advProduct ON RankedRows.ProductId = advProduct.ProductID
WHERE RankedRows.RowRank = 1;
GO
SET STATISTICS TIME OFF;
SET STATISTICS IO OFF;
GO
SELECT 'Query 1 End' AS Operation, GETDATE() AS LogTime;

PRINT '*********************************************************'
PRINT 'Query 1 Execution Completed. Cleaning buffers and procedure cache now.';
PRINT '*********************************************************'
GO

CHECKPOINT;
DBCC DROPCLEANBUFFERS;
DBCC FREEPROCCACHE;
GO

PRINT '*********************************************************'
PRINT 'Query 2 Execution. Statistics output after this point.';
PRINT '*********************************************************'
GO

SELECT 'Query 2 Start' AS Operation, GETDATE() AS LogTime;
--CROSS-APPLY SOLUTION
SET STATISTICS TIME ON;
SET STATISTICS IO ON;

SELECT b.SalesOrderId, 
 b.SalesOrderDetailId, 
 b.ProductId, 
 b.TransactionDate, 
 b.CarrierTrackingNumber,
 b.ProductName, 
 b.ProductLine, 
 b.ProductNumber
FROM 
(
 SELECT DISTINCT hso.SalesOrderId,
 hso.SalesOrderDetailId,
 hso.ProductId
 FROM dbo.HugeSalesOrder AS hso
)k
CROSS APPLY
(
 SELECT TOP 1 bhso.SalesOrderId,
 bhso.SalesOrderDetailId,
 bhso.ProductId,
 bhso.TransactionDate,
 bhso.CarrierTrackingNumber,
 advProduct.Name AS ProductName,
 advProduct.ProductLine AS ProductLine,
 advProduct.ProductNumber AS ProductNumber
 FROM dbo.HugeSalesOrder AS bhso
 INNER JOIN AdventureWorks2014.Production.Product AS advProduct ON bhso.ProductId = advProduct.ProductID
 WHERE bhso.SalesOrderId = k.SalesOrderId
 AND bhso.SalesOrderDetailId = k.SalesOrderDetailId
 AND bhso.ProductId = k.ProductId
 ORDER BY bhso.TransactionDate ASC
)b
SET STATISTICS TIME OFF;
SET STATISTICS IO OFF;
GO
SELECT 'Query 2 End' AS Operation, GETDATE() AS LogTime;
PRINT '*********************************************************'
PRINT 'Query 2 Execution Completed.';
PRINT '*********************************************************'
GO


/* 
-------------
Results (Raw)
-------------
DBCC execution completed. If DBCC printed error messages, contact your system administrator.
DBCC execution completed. If DBCC printed error messages, contact your system administrator.
*********************************************************
Query 1 Execution. Statistics output after this point.
*********************************************************

 SQL Server Execution Times:
 CPU time = 0 ms, elapsed time = 0 ms.
Table 'Workfile'. Scan count 0, logical reads 0, physical reads 0, read-ahead reads 0, lob logical reads 0, lob physical reads 0, lob read-ahead reads 0.
Table 'Worktable'. Scan count 0, logical reads 0, physical reads 0, read-ahead reads 0, lob logical reads 0, lob physical reads 0, lob read-ahead reads 0.
Table 'HugeSalesOrder'. Scan count 1, logical reads 5613, physical reads 2, read-ahead reads 5600, lob logical reads 0, lob physical reads 0, lob read-ahead reads 0.
Table 'Product'. Scan count 1, logical reads 15, physical reads 1, read-ahead reads 17, lob logical reads 0, lob physical reads 0, lob read-ahead reads 0.

 SQL Server Execution Times:
 CPU time = 1171 ms, elapsed time = 12644 ms.
SQL Server parse and compile time: 
 CPU time = 0 ms, elapsed time = 0 ms.
*********************************************************
Query 1 Execution Completed. Cleaning buffers and procedure cache now.
*********************************************************
DBCC execution completed. If DBCC printed error messages, contact your system administrator.
DBCC execution completed. If DBCC printed error messages, contact your system administrator.
*********************************************************
Query 2 Execution. Statistics output after this point.
*********************************************************

 SQL Server Execution Times:
 CPU time = 0 ms, elapsed time = 0 ms.
Table 'HugeSalesOrder'. Scan count 121318, logical reads 370118, physical reads 2, read-ahead reads 5600, lob logical reads 0, lob physical reads 0, lob read-ahead reads 0.
Table 'Product'. Scan count 0, logical reads 242634, physical reads 3, read-ahead reads 0, lob logical reads 0, lob physical reads 0, lob read-ahead reads 0.

 SQL Server Execution Times:
 CPU time = 1109 ms, elapsed time = 11008 ms.
*********************************************************
Query 2 Execution Completed.
*********************************************************
*/
</code></pre>
</div>

<div>
Excellent explanation bro ! Great.
</div>

<div>
Dear Princeservice, 
Can you explain us why you have selected &nbsp;&lt;&lt;<a href="https://www.experts-exchange.com/questions/28975046/Query-table-for-min-date-and-unique-user-in-SQL-SERVER.html?anchorAnswerId=41834992#a41834992" rel="ugc">https://www.experts-exchange.com/questions/28975046/Query-table-for-min-date-and-unique-user-in-SQL-SERVER.html?anchorAnswerId=41834992#a41834992</a>&gt;&gt; as accepted answer. 
 
Ryan has given the same answer and was first one to answer. 
 
Thanks in advance ! 
 
Regards, 
Pawan
</div>

<div>
<div class="content wysiwyg-content">
Here is my table 
 
Job | Price | Changed By | Date 
 
1 |100 | Bill &nbsp;| 2016/08/01 
1 |100 | Bob| 2016/08/02 
1 |100 | Susan| 2016/08/03 
 
2 |222 | Bill | 2016/08/01 
2 |222 | Bob| 2016/08/02 
2 |222 | Bill | 2016/08/03 
2 |222 | Bob| 2016/08/04 
 
3 |176 | Susan| 2016/08/01 
3 |176 | Bill | 2016/08/02 
3 |176 | Susan| 2016/08/03 
 
What I want is the job, price and changed by for record with the minimum date. The results I would like to see is: 
 
1 |100 | Bill &nbsp;| 2016/08/01 
2 |222 | Bill | 2016/08/01 
3 |176 | Susan| 2016/08/01 
 
Thanks in advance for your help
</div>
</div>

Here is my table

Job | Price | Changed By | Date

1 |100 | Bill  | 2016/08/01
1 |100 | Bob| 2016/08/02
1 |100 | Susan| 2016/08/03

2 |222 | Bill | 2016/08/01
2 |222 | Bob| 2016/08/02
2 |222 | Bill | 2016/08/03
2 |222 | Bob| 2016/08/04

3 |176 | Susan| 2016/08/01
3 |176 | Bill | 2016/08/02
3 |176 | Susan| 2016/08/03

What I want is the job, price and changed by for record with the minimum date. The results I would like to see is:

1 |100 | Bill  | 2016/08/01
2 |222 | Bill | 2016/08/01
3 |176 | Susan| 2016/08/01

Thanks in advance for your help

Query table for min date and unique user in SQL SERVER

Microsoft SQL Server is a suite of relational database management system (RDBMS) products providing multi-user database access functionality.SQL Server is available in multiple versions, typically identified by release year, and versions are subdivided into editions to distinguish between product functionality. Component services include integration (SSIS), reporting (SSRS), analysis (SSAS), data quality, master data, T-SQL and performance tuning.