Product Description

Sams Teach Yourself SQL in 10 Minutes has established itself as the gold standard for introductory SQL books, offering a fast-paced accessible tutorial to the major themes and techniques involved in applying the SQL language.Forta's examples are clear and his writing style is crisp and concise.As with earlier editions, this revision includes coverage of current versions of all major commercial SQL platforms.New this time around is coverage of MySQL, and PostgreSQL.All examples have been tested against each SQL platform, with incompatibilities or platform distinctives called out and explained.

Customer Reviews (159)

Not what I expected
This booklet gives you instructions on how to run different SQL commands, and it does so by just throwing you the rigid command lines. You want run a JOIN script? here's the syntax, go for it.
It doesn't even give you a scenario and explain to you WHY the script should be written in that way.

I would recommand Joes 2 Pros' Beginner SQL:http://www.amazon.com/Beginning-SQL-Joes-Pros-Hands-/dp/143925317X/ref=sr_1_4?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1286860133&sr=1-4

very usefull quick reference
information: very helpfull and usefull
vendor: really on time
book condition: excelent
amazon service: the best!

Great book for a beginner
I took a class on Microsoft Access in college and barely learned a thing.I'm an accountant and in the past year or so I've been using SQL quite a bit to run queries that were created by our IT department.I took an interest in it and began editing some of these queries.Finally I broke down and bought a book.This book taught me many useful tips in the first few chapters.One example is by simply placing an * after SELECT the query results will pull all columns in the table.That tip alone made the book worth it.Now I'm writing my own queries and impressing my IT department in the process.

Fantastic intro book
I am not kidding when I say I knew NOTHING about SQL prior to getting this book.

Every chapter has been REAL.The information is clean, direct, and the language is level-headed.Ben Forta really targeted the novice and inexperienced SQL user, and he presents each SQL concept in clear usage using a common table across chapters.

It's given me the foundation and courage to move on to more advanced books now.The concepts of SQL where truly a mystery, but I'm no longer in the dark.

I can't thank the author enough, and I can't recommend this book enough if you want to jump into SQL.

Good Quick Overview
This is a wonderful little book. It covers the topic quickly giving you a good overview of SQL. While by no means definitive this is a great starting point to google your way to a complete understanding.

The examples given insight into what each SQL feature could be used for in real world settings while highlighting potential pitfalls.

The book is not intended to be a tutorial on database design but dose give a few hints along the way. If you are looking for material on design look else where.

The book does not limit itself to any particular implementation; however, I'd say it provides the least treatment of PostgreSQL and the most of MySQL. This should not really be a major factor as the book is about SQL not RDMS. ... Read more

Product Description

Microsoft® SQL Server 2008 R2 Unleashed

Ray Rankins

Paul Bertucci

Chris Gallelli

Alex T. Silverstein

Includes full coverage of SQL Server 2008 in addition to R2 coverage

This is the industry’s most comprehensive and useful guide to SQL Server 2008 and 2008 R2. It presents start-to-finish coverage of SQL Server’s core database server and management capabilities, plus complete introductions to Integration, Reporting, and Analysis Services, application development, and much more.

Four expert SQL Server administrators, developers, and consultants have packed this book with real-world information, tips, guidelines, and samples drawn from their own extensive experience creating and managing complex database solutions. Writing for intermediate-to-advanced-level SQL Server professionals, they focus on the product’s most complex and powerful capabilities, and its newest tools and features. For example, you’ll find invaluable information on administering SQL Server more efficiently, analyzing and optimizing queries, implementing data warehouses, ensuring high availability, and tuning performance.

The accompanying CD-ROM contains an extraordinary library of practical tools and information including sample databases and all code examples. Whether you’re responsible for SQL Server 2008 analysis, design, implementation, support, administration, or troubleshooting, no other book offers you this much value.

• Understand the Microsoft SQL Server 2008 environment, R2’s newest features, and each edition’s capabilities
• Manage SQL Server 2008 more effectively with SQL Server Management Studio, the SQLCMD command-line query tool, and Powershell
• Efficiently manage security, users, backup/restore, replication, Database Mail, and database objects–from tables and indexes to stored procedures and triggers
• Increase availability with clustering, database mirroring, and other features
• Use new Policy-Based Management to centrally configure and operate SQL Server throughout the organization
• Use SQL Server Profiler to capture queries and identify bottlenecks
• Improve performance by optimizing queries, design more effective databases, and manage workloads with the new Resource Governor
• Develop applications using SQL Server 2008’s enhancements to T-SQL and SQLCLR, .NET integration, LINQ to SQL, XML, and XQuery
• Make the most of Analysis Services, Integration Services, and Reporting Services–especially Microsoft’s new R2 reporting improvements
• Improve data security using Column-level and Transparent Data Encryption

 Ray Rankins, president of Gotham Consulting Services, has worked with Sybase and Microsoft SQL Server for more than 23 years and is coauthor of Sybase SQL Server Unleashed, Microsoft SQL Server 2000 Unleashed, and Microsoft SQL Server 2005 Unleashed. Paul Bertucci, founder of Database Architechs, has more than 30 years of experience in database design, architecture, replication, tuning, integration, and high availability. Chris Gallelli, president of CGAL Consulting Services, specializes in database administration, tuning, and programming. Alex T. Silverstein is managing principal and chief architect of Unified Digital Group, LLC, a developer of custom SQL Server and Microsoft .NET solutions.

CD-ROM includes:

• 15 additional chapters
• Code samples, scripts, and databases utilized within the book
• Free version of SQL Shot (performance & tuning software)

Category: Database / Microsoft SQL Server

Covers: Microsoft® SQL Server 2008 R2

User Level: Intermediate—Advanced

Customer Reviews (1)

Content is excellent
To update the knowledge to the latest software is a must for all software folks of the SQL Server related field. This book has been written with more experience and is well organized. And there are many tips and notes those will be useful.

I bought this book at a nearby Borders store and thought print ink is light (especially images). But it is readable (I just finished one reading and need to read again more intensively) and with tons of information. I believe this book is comprehensive and a must read. And companion CD contains more useful information such as bonus chapters and test databases, those should not be missed. Overall it is worth the price and time to spend on this book.
... Read more

Product Description

Customer Reviews (17)

Good Book!
I recommend this book to everyone who want to start learning T-SQL from the ground up.
All the topics are explain in a understandable way and you can complete your learning with the
proposed exercises.

A Great "Why Didn't I Think of That!" Book
I've been using T-SQL for many years, so I was surprised by the number of "aha" moments I experienced while reading this book.The author seems to have a gift for describing concepts and techniques -- both old and new -- in a clear, "oh, yeah, now I see how that could be useful" way.For me, the "Using Pivot with Dynamic SQL" section more than justified the cost of the book all by itself; it saved me several hours on a project I was working on, because I'd been planning to do by brute force (cursors, table variables, and many lines of procedural code) what the author demonstrated how to do with a few lines of code.The discussion of what derived tables are and why they are useful was also revelatory.All in all, this is a book that should prove useful to T-SQL developers at all levels of experience.

Awesome for advanced T-SQL users, and intimidating for a novice.
DON'T buy this book if you're a T-SQL beginner.The name made me think the book would be geared toward basic/foundational concepts.This is absolutely not the case, however I'm very excited about having this as a terrific mid to advanced level reference down the road.

I've been a SQL System Administrator for many years, but never needed to understand the queries, just how to protect, backup and recover the databases.Thank goodness my husband was able to translate for me!For this reason I give it a 1.5 star rating for new users but a 4.5 rating for T-SQL administrators.Once I was able to understand what he was trying to say, and reference the […] website to break the queries into manageable bites, the lights came on.

I have now purchased a few other T-SQL books and without a doubt, this unique reference will become my master.However I couldn't do this without taking the first lessons in more introductory material.Can't wait to be a guru and actually understand this beast of a book!

Superb Learning and Resource Book
This book is an absolute 5.

The information is given in a way that makes it easy for anyone to understand with great sample problems at the end of each chapter. I found myself continually reading it and couldn't put it down, which for a technical book is unheard of!

There were many places where I thought I had known how different areas worked and then I read this book. This is a must have not only as a learning tool but as a reference for those once in a while situations when you get to use new or otherwise novelty features of SQL Server's T-SQL.

If you had any doubt whether or not to purchase this book, I would highly encourage you to do so!

The nitty gritty
Pleased to find the other reviews were correct in that this book really fills in the gap and gets into nitty gritty nuances of querying... way beyond the basics.Only a 1/4 of way through now, but learning new aspects/features of sql with every read. ... Read more

Product Description

Customer Reviews (37)

Seller is not reliable
I paid one day delivery for the textbook on Sep 1. On September 9 the textbooks has not been shipped yet. Not advising to have any business with this seller.

Quick, organized, and clear starter guide
This book was fun to go through. It was clear and had questions at the end to keep you honest - I always like that in technical books. I don't know why more don't do it. It's the kind of book that, by the end, you feel like you've always understood the concepts.

100% Recomendado
Soy de Mexico y la verdad es que la calidad del producto ha sido realmente satisfactoria, y en cuanto al servicio de envio mas que excelente.

Good to have
It is an intro to the SQL database and very easy to read and good to have as beginners and intermediate level. Book condition is as said.

Good book for begineers
I would recommend this book to anyone who is starting to learn SQL.

This book is a begineers book teaching various SQL statements like SELECT, INSERT, DELETE. The book starts off withthe available database models like Network, Object and Heirarchical models and then goes ahead and explains the commands. The commands are written for MySQL which is freely available for download and install. The author also explains the variations in Oracle and SQL Server where appropriate.

The commands are grouped together and covered one by one. The topics covered are statements like SELECT, INSERT, DELETE, aggregate functions, joining more than one table, set operations like union, intersection, views, indexes, constraints, transaction etc.

There is also "Test your knowledge" at the end of each chapter which helps you to reinforce what you just learnt with the solutions at the end of the book in case you are struck and don't know how to proceed.

This book just introduces all the beginners concept in a nice way. The examples are simple to follow and learn.

PROS : Covers all SQL commands, Show different variations among Database vendors

CONS : Begineer book (no indepth knowledge) ... Read more

Product Description

If you need to deploy, manage, or secure Microsoft SQL Server 2008, this is the complete, fast-paced, task-based reference you’ve been searching for. Authored by a world-class expert on SQL Server in the enterprise, this book goes far beyond the basics, taking on the complex tasks that DBAs need to make the most of Microsoft’s flagship database platform. SQL Server MVP, Ross Mistry presents proven techniques for SQL Server 2008 installation, upgrades, backup/restore, data transfer, indexing, high availability, security, and much more. He draws on extensive testing in high-profile production environments to offer step-by-step solutions and powerful tips you won’t find anywhere else. Every chapter begins with a section identifying SQL Server 2008’s most significant new improvements, and concludes with a convenient summary of best practices. Each chapter also outlines the benefits of leveraging Windows Server 2008.

Customer Reviews (10)

Good book for DBA
This book is one of the best. It covers all grounds. Just what a DBA need. This is not a beginner's book. Prior knowlege with DBA work would certainly help.

I strongly recommend it.

Mediocre book
This book did not add any practical knowledge or techniques at least to me.
For the most part it re-prints books on line general parts.
I did not find any good book for sql 2008 yet. SQL Server Unleashed for 2005 is a good one.

A Rich All-In-One SQL Server Book
I think this book is one of the better all-in-one SQL Server 2008 books in the market right now. It's covering almost all administration areas with sufficient content. It's as deep as a 820 page book can get. If you are a senior DBA, this book should be accompanied by other books on specific ares like clustering, internals etc. I found "Best Practices" sections, at the end of each chapter, useful. The bonus HyperV chapter could be thicker, though.

An Incomplete Reference
Every chapter I read in this book raises more questions. This book is vague and incomplete in every respect. Not at the same level of excellence as SQL Server 2005 Unleashed or even the books online included with SQL 2008. This book leaves out a lot of important details for administrators planning a SQL 2008 deployment. The differences between Standard and Enterprise editions are outlined in a short, vague paragraph in the introductory chapter. From there on out the book refers to the Enterprise feature set without ever indicating that a given feature is only available in Enterprise. Policy Based Management? There is an embarrassment of a chapter which says click here then there to create a policy but not even a single word is said about the actual real world configuration options available via Policy Based Management. It's like explaining Moby Dick by telling you how to turn the pages of the book and never mentioning the whale. Surface Area Tool no longer exists and they don't explain how to perform equivalent the configuration using the new Policy tools. I was hoping for a resource to help me feel more confident about SQL 2008 but this isn't it.

Favorite Book of My Shelf - A Great Concise Book for All DBAs - Review by Founder of SQLAuthority.com
Short Summary:
SQL SERVER 2008 is a trusted database platform that provides organizations a competitive edge by allowing them to obtain faster results and thus make improved business decisions. This book covers all the topics that can make Database Administrators efficient and successful.

Detail summary:

This information-rich book aims to enhance the experience of professionals working with SQL Server. It covers a wide array of topics and modules of the SQL Server 2008, for instance, database engine, Analysis Services, Integration Services, replication, Reporting Services, Notification Services, services broker, and full text search. The book provides elaborated guidance on management, administration, and monitoring. Besides, new features such as Policy-Based Management, Compressed Backup, and Fail-over Clustered are covered in depth. The book even has a few chapters dedicated to some of the newly introduced concepts including Powershell, Resource Governor, and Virtualization.

The latest version of SQL Server 2008 is a significant improvement on the previous version. People who have purchased the previous version know that it contains only 300 pages and does not provide comprehensive information. I had criticized the author Ross Mistry for the same. The author took my criticism positively and promised me that the next version of the book will be complete. I am extremely glad that the latest version lives up to my expectations! It is a complete book with over 850 pages and covers every topic related to SQL Server under the sun. So, there is no need to refer anything online. Not to forget that there is an online version this book available for free.

The latest edition of SQL Server 2008 includes some of the great features from the previous edition apart from the various new features to improve a DBA's life. The later chapters of the book focus on some interesting and practical information on improving your efficiency, the scale of your server, and performance. It contains some key new features that will help you manage multiple servers at one time using Policy-Based Management, scale your I/O load using compression, and collect valuable information about your environment using data collectors. This information will certainly make a huge positive difference in your experience of working with SQL Server.

This book assumes that the reader has no experience with installing SQL Server 2008, so it starts with explanation of the basic installation and setup methods and then provides further information. One thing I really appreciate about this book is that it focuses on day-to-day administration, best practices, and industry case scenarios, which is relevant for all SQL Server users. Another attractive fact about this book is that all the topics and examples are based on the new features and functionalities.

One of the most interesting chapters I found in this book is chapter 21 - Consolidating and Vitalizing SQL Server 2008 with Hyper-V. I have not seen any other author presenting this concept in such a simple way. I think the author has done great job in organizing the ideas in a coherent manner. I recommend this useful book to everyone; in particular those interested in learning SQL Server 2008 should start with this book.

Every chapter of the book ends with Best Practices related to that chapter. Let us go over few of them.

"All database users belong to the public database role by default. Avoid using the public database role when assigning permissions unless absolutely necessary."

"Make your key index as narrow as possible - preferably an integer column with nonclustered index on it. "

Rating: 5 Stars

In summary, this is a great concise book for all DBAs. They should definitely adorn their desk with this book for frequent reference, as I have done mine.

Pinal Dave
Founder - blog.SQLAuthority.com ... Read more

Product Description

Customer Reviews (11)

Great Resource for Understanding SQL Server's Inner Workings
I have quite a few SQL Server 2008 references, but this is my favorite for better understanding the Query Optimizer, engine, indexing, and all sorts of tuning.Basically this is my first stop for questions beyond T-SQL development.I've been able to optimize performance far better than before.Highly recommended.

Absolute Requirement
If you're the person that runs backups and does nothing else with SQL Server, maybe, this book isn't for you. If you have any other level of responsibility with programming or maintaining databases within SQL Server, you absolutely have to have this book. There is no other resource as powerful as this one for understanding what is occurring within SQL Server. If you write queries or create indexes, you have to know how SQL Server is storing and retrieving your data, how it maintains it's memory, everything. It's all here in this book. What's more, the writing is so good, and clear, you can really use the book to learn. I can't sing the praises loud enough of long enough. This book is simply a requirement if you work with SQL Server.

aweful none delivery
This book is excellent. I found it at Barnes and Noble, read at the store, decided to buy one. I ordered one here, money was taken on March 6th, 2010, promised delivery by March 29th, 2010. It never arrived. It is a scam. In USA, city-to-city standard delivery will not take more than 3 days. I highly recommend this book but beware where you buy from. I am going to bn.com to buy another one.

Great book
Interesting, but some times for advanced sql server users and some times for beginners :)

Great Book!
Kalen Delaney has written another thorough reference that is a joy to possess for any senior DBA! ... Read more

Product Description

Learn SQL the fun and easy way – no programming experience needed!

SQL For Dummies, 7th Edition, shows programmers and web developers how to use SQL to build relational databases and get valuable information from them. This book covers the core features of the SQL language. Topics covered include how to use SQL to structure a DBMS and implement a database design; secure a database; and retrieve information from a database. This edition will be revised to reflect the new enhancements of SQL/XML:2008.

The latest update of the perennial bestselling SQL For Dummies, which has sold more than 210,000 units in six editions.

SQL is the most popular database language in the world

Covers creating, accessing, manipulating, maintaining, and storing information in relational database management systems (DBMS) such as Access, Oracle, SQL Server, and MySQL.

Includes new content on using SQL with XML to power data-driven web sites and using SQL with Access 2010

Whether you're daunted by database development or a system admin star, SQL For Dummies, 7th Dummies will have you working your web site in no time at all.Amazon.com Review
This is the rare case of a book that can take you from a beginner to an advanced-intermediate level. Like many of the books in IDG's Dummies series, this volume begins with a definition ("What is SQL?") and ends with "The Part of Tens," a collection of tips in a top ten list form. Taylor writes in a breezy, entertaining style that SQL novices will find inviting. One caveat: The examples are given in Borland's Delphi, a rapid application development (RAD) tool. Some sections show several screen shots from Delphi and it may be difficult to follow along in these sections if you don't have the program in front of you. As with other Dummies books, SQL for Dummies is entertaining to read although the nonstop jokes may distract some readers from the technical content. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (34)

Great Service
Great service. Book was in stated condition and arrived promptly. I'd do this business with this person again.

Good Quick Resource
This book is a good, quick and easy to refer to reference book.I save a lot of time and it is interesting reading

SQL for Dummies
This was a great addition to my library and love the fact that it it written in "plain" easy to understand language.

rambling and disorganized
This book is a waste of money. Disorganized, rambles, presents examples without explaining them fully, repeats sections, hard to find what you are looking for since it is written in such a hodgepodge style, not good for either learning for the 1st time or as a reference.

just what I wanted
This was just what I wanted.I was pleased with the service and the book.
... Read more

Product Description
The Definitive Guide to Microsoft SQL Server 2008 Reporting Services

Create and deliver data-rich reports across the enterprise using this complete server-based reporting solution. Written by a member of the original Reporting Services development team, Microsoft SQL Server 2008 Reporting Services covers the entire report-building and distribution process, including data extraction, integration with desktop and Web applications, and end-user access. The book explains how to maximize all of the powerful features, including the new Tablix data format, as well as enhanced performance, scalability, and visualization capabilities.

• Install, configure, and customize SQL Server 2008 Reporting Services
• Create SELECT queries to extract data
• Generate reports from the Report Wizard and from scratch
• Add charts, images, and gauges
• Build reusable report templates
• Use the new Tablix data format to create reports with any structure
• Export reports to Word, Excel, PDF, HTML, XML, and other formats
• Enable end-user access to reports via the Report Server and its Report Manager web interface

Customer Reviews (19)

Microsoft SQL Server 2008 Reporting Services
Loved this book (A+) and would recommend any one who wants to begin their journey in SSRS. Attended few interviews on SSRS and surprised to see that all their questions were covered in this book.

Trust me and you will never regret your purchase

Useful and clear, but little verbose
It's a good book for learning, almost from scratch, the Reporting Services 2008 without prior knowledge of them.
The numerous step-by-step procedures (often composed from 50 steps and over) need to keep a pc in front of the book, since it would make little sense to simply read it without trying what explains. Unfortunately, in many pages, the author is rather verbose, and would have been desirable greater concision. A quarter of the book is covered by the appendices, even if those relating to the properties of various controls are almost useless, since such information can be retrieveb from the guide quickly.
The binding and pagination are impeccable. Despite the considerable size of the book is easy to keep it open on the desktop near the pc.

Great book for the begining report writer
I used this book to assist in creating reports in SQL Reporting Services after a few months of learning T-SQL.It does a great job with practical examples and easy to follow along instructions.I recommend this book to everyone at my work who is getting in to reporting services.I still go back and use it as a reference.

Excellent Book
So far this book is just what I wanted.I've used SSRS 2003, 2005 and 2008 but 2008 is quite different and this book helped me familiarize myself with it.

Indispensable Guide and Reference
Brian's use of complete real-world examples and superb guidance have made this book an indispensable book for the SSRS developer. The downloadable code and examples make it easy to tailor these working products to meet the needs of you own development projects. I have personally taken the example code, modified to meet my requirements and published finished products to the delight of my online clients. Brian will also stand behind his work and can be reached as an additional resource if needed. I don't purchase books that often any longer, but I'd have been lost without this one. ... Read more

Product Description

Unless you are working at a very advanced level, this is the only SQL book you will ever need. The authors have taken the mystery out of complex queries and explained principles and techniques with such clarity that a "Mere Mortal" will indeed be empowered to perform the superhuman. Do not walk past this book!
--Graham Mandeno, Database Consultant

SQL Queries for Mere Mortals provides a step-by-step, easy-to-read introduction to writing SQL queries. It includes hundreds of examples with detailed explanations. This book provides the tools you need to understand, modify, and create SQL queries
--Keith W. Hare, Convenor, ISO/IEC JTC1 SC32 WG3--the International SQL Standards Committee

I learned SQL primarily from the first edition of this book, and I am pleased to see a second edition of this book so that others can continue to benefit from its organized presentation of the language. Starting from how to design your tables so that SQL can be effective (a common problem for database beginners), and then continuing through the various aspects of SQL construction and capabilities, the reader can become a moderate expert upon completing the book and its samples. Learning how to convert a question in English into a meaningful SQL statement will greatly facilitate your mastery of the language. Numerous examples from real life will help you visualize how to use SQL to answer the questions about the data in your database. Just one of the "watch out for this trap" items will save you more than the cost of the book when you avoid that problem when writing your queries. I highly recommend this book if you want to tap the full potential of your database.
--Kenneth D. Snell, Ph.D., Database Designer/Programmer

I don't think they do this in public schools any more, and it is a shame, but do you remember in the seventh and eighth grades when you learned to diagram a sentence? Those of you who do may no longer remember how you did it, but all of you do write better sentences because of it. John Viescas and Mike Hernandez must have remembered because they take everyday English queries and literally translate them into SQL. This is an important book for all database designers. It takes the complexity of mathematical Set Theory and of First Order Predicate Logic, as outlined in E. F. Codd's original treatise on relational database design, and makes it easy for anyone to understand. If you want an elementary- through intermediate-level course on SQL, this is the one book that is a requirement, no matter how many others you buy.
--Arvin Meyer, MCP, MVP

Even in this day of wizards and code generators, successful database developers still require a sound knowledge of Structured Query Language (SQL, the standard language for communicating with most database systems). In this book, John and Mike do a marvelous job of making what's usually a dry and difficult subject come alive, presenting the material with humor in a logical manner, with plenty of relevant examples. I would say that this book should feature prominently in the collection on the bookshelf of all serious developers, except that I'm sure it'll get so much use that it won't spend much time on the shelf!
-- Doug Steele, Microsoft Access Developer and author

Over the last several decades, SQL has evolved from a language known only to computer specialists to a widely used international standard of the computer industry. The number of new applications deployed each year using SQL now totals in the millions. If you are accessing corporate information from the Internet or from an internal network, you are probably using SQL. This new edition of SQL Queries for Mere Mortals helps new users learn the foundations of SQL queries, and is an essential reference guide for intermediate and advanced users.

The accompanying CD contains five sample databases used for the example queries throughout the book in four different formats: Microsoft SQL Server 2000 and later, Microsoft Access 2000 and later, MySQL version 5.0 and later, and SQL scripts that can be used with most other implementations of the language.

Customer Reviews (15)

From a mere mortal who is impressed
Having recently jumped into the world of SQL boots and all, I needed a very fast learning tool before I got burnt.I found this book in my local public library and found it instantly so helpful that I immediately bought a copy from Amazon and have not looked back.Thank you to John L Viescas for a logically written handbook for the uninitiated.

Very Pleased
I was in the process of teaching myself SQL.At first I went on the tutorial on the mysql website, which was good, but the examples were very small.You could cut & paste data from the web page into a file and then LOAD DATA LOCAL ... the data into a table, but the data wasn't quite formatted right and you had to massage it.And all the examples were pretty small, and the tutorial ran through the material pretty quickly.

I went to a bookstore and paid $65 for this book, (I could have gotten it from Amazon a lot cheaper than that, but I was in a hurry).I feel it was a good investment. The CD-Rom contains several example databases, and they're pretty big and complex.Another reviewer pointed out that getting the files off the CD isn't always easy.My mysql installation is on linux, and I couldn't see the files on the CD, but I also have an XP box, and was able to download the files there and transfer them over to my Linux box.

The text always refers to the databases on the CD rom, and it has a LOT of examples, so you can try any of the given examples and modify your query to see what else happens.Each chapter has many examples in the text, but at least a dozen further examples at the end of each chapter.What's more, there are solutions to the examples on the CD Rom.Having large, complex databases to work with interactively was great, as was having a lot of examples.

The pace of the text is slow, which is fine, if you feel you understand what they're saying you can skim forward.In the examples in the text, they use pretty verbose SQL -- they tell you, for example, what a natural join is, and what "using" means, but after that they never use these techniques in subsequent examples, though it would shorten the solutions a bit.They also quality column names with 'table.columnName' when 'columnName' would have sufficed, and they put in a lot of unnecessary parens.I think this is deliberate, they want to teach you "good habits" and make everything redundantly clear.

They don't cater to one particular dialect of SQL.I was using mysql, and there were a couple of things: concatenating strings with || or +, and full outer joins, that aren't supported by mysql and the text didn't explain this, but I also had a mysql manual lying around that explained these things.

couldn't put it down!!
I got this book because I'm designing and implementing a db in MS Access.The explanation of SQL has helped me go far beyond what I could have accomplished with the query wizard alone.The authors break down the subjects simply, with plenty of examples to support and reinforce ideas.From this simplicity, you as the user can render complex results.I find that even in areas I felt competent, the book has helped me improve my work.

Happy with book purchase
I am really happy with this book purchase. The book is easy to understand with great examples. Great tool for learning SQL on your own, even if you are a beginner.

The title says it all
This is well written and goes at a slow pace for beginners. Since I'm more than a novice, I had to skip through most of the first part of the book. Once the author got into more meatier subjects like cross joins, unions and subqueries I appreciated the book more. Well done. ... Read more

Product Description
A hands-on resource for SQL Server 2008 troubleshooting methods and tools

SQL Server administrators need to ensure that SQL Server remains running 24/7. Authored by leading SQL Server experts and MVPs, this book provides in-depth coverage of best practices based on a deep understanding of the internals of both SQL Server and the Windows operating system.

You'll get a thorough look at the SQL Server database architecture and internals as well as Windows OS internals so that you can approach troubleshooting with a solid grasp of the total processing environment. Armed with this comprehensive understanding, readers will then learn how to use a suite of tools for troubleshooting performance problems whether they originate on the database server or operating system side.

Topics Covered:

• SQL Server Architecture
• Understanding Memory
• SQL Server Waits and Extended Events
• Working with Storage
• CPU and Query Processing
• Locking and Latches
• Knowing Tempdb
• Defining Your Approach To Troubleshooting
• Viewing Server Performance with PerfMon and the PAL Tool
• Tracing SQL Server with SQL Trace and Profiler
• Consolidating Data Collection with SQLDiag and the PerfStats Script
• Introducing RML Utilities for Stress Testing and Trace File Analysis
• Bringing It All Together with SQL Nexus
• Using Management Studio Reports and the Performance Dashboard
• Using SQL Server Management Data Warehouse
• Shortcuts to Efficient Data Collection and Quick Analysis

Note: CD-ROM/DVD and other supplementary materials are not included as part of eBook file. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (11)

Must have DBA Guide
Brent Ozar is great at what he does and he suggested this volume to me.It is excellent reading,but is imperative as a reference.

Great Book - DBA's dont miss it
It is a wonderful book to learn about SQL internals and inner workings. I read both Inside SQL Server and this book. Both of them are awesome. I had minor difficulty in understanding few concepts in Inside SQL Server. But this one is really cool with good pictures and queries which will assist a lot during reading and also at work. DBA's dont miss it.

Touched on a wide array of performance topics
I recently finished reading "Professional SQL Server 2008 Internals and Troubleshooting" and wanted to write a quick review about it.As a Production SQL DBA who is required to works with a variety of technologies like SANs, networking etc...I found this book to be a wonderful resource.All too often with SQL books the content seems to be geared towards development DBAs and the in-depth discussion of Storage seems to be some sort of black arts to a lot of DBA's.This book seems to fill in the gap in the market where a lot of SQL books fall short for the "Production DBA".I'm glad to see a book that touched on such a wide array of performance topics including disk sub-systems.

@Toshana

This book will make you flip its page instead of going to search engine online.
Brief Review: Having a book on internal and associating that with real life is "almost" an impossible task. The reason for using the word "almost" is because this book has accomplished this very well. This internals book is written by keeping real life scenarios as top focus. The highlight of the book is that it teaches how to use internals to troubleshoot the real life issues of performance, storage, query processing and all the other important aspects of SQL Server - A must-have book for everybody who is a hands-on DBA/Developer.

Detail Review: I planned to finish reading this book within a week. Very soon, I realized that I was going over very interesting subjects of SQL Server very quickly and understanding them very well. In fact, I finished reading this book in less than a week, and I have to accept that it offers an interesting journey for its readers. This book is also quite easy to read. This book has addressed some of the complex subjects in such a simple manner that any SQL user can understand it very easily.

The three very important components for any server are CPU, Memory and IO. This book effectively elucidates these three components. The topics usually begin by covering internals which shift to practical implementations after proper amount of internals. In other way, I can say that this book is NOT a usual boring book, which can put you to sleep. Each chapter keeps you interested till the end of it. CPU and IO, which are very important deciding factors for Query cost, are very well explained in the book. This book explains how any query can be understood in terms of internals. After explaining the query internals in terms of CPU and IO, it also explains how the physical memory affects query execution and what are the techniques to improve performance?

This book gives an in-depth explanation of Wait Types and Extended Events. I must admit that I was quite scared of Wait Types and Extended Events thus far and learned how "friendly" they can be after reading this book. In fact, I can really see that how I can use these concepts in my real life scenarios and help my servers to run better and efficiently. This book also covers some topics which do not have much available help online, i.e. SQLDiag, RML Utilities, etc. One who is new to these subjects can easily learn from the basics and soon can move to an advanced level. Again, as mentioned earlier, this book is written by taking the real world into consideration and all these subjects follow the same goal.

In fact, I liked the entire book. However, the chapters which I really enjoyed the most are Chapter 3: SQL Server Waits and Extended Events by Jonathan Kehayias; Chapter 4: Working with Storage by Brent Ozar; and Chapter 5: CPU and Query Processing by Steven Wort. Each chapter is independent of the other chapters; this way, the reader can practically start reading any chapter from anywhere and explore the book according to his/her convenience.

Databases are required because there is a large amount of data available, and keeping the data safe, secure and available is the MOST important task of any database system. The fourth chapter on Storage by Brent covers this important basic concept very thoroughly. The most impressive part of Chapter 4 is that it explains how storage works in real time. While taking about storage, Brent manages to effectively explain the concepts of High Availability and Disaster Recovery as well. Maintenance of storage has always been a challenge, and also there has been a lack of understanding on storage devices and techniques available. This chapter answers few very basic but important questions like when should SAN be used for data storage, and what is its effect on performance? This chapter also explains RAID setup; however, please note that it focuses on "practical internals." After setting up good storage, it is equally important to test it; this chapter continues discussing different tools and methodologies for testing storage. This chapter also covers Windows Server Configuration as well as tuning of software by means of storage devices. Corruption can be significant problem in case of a large database; this chapter also covers the proper usage of DBCC CHECKDB and its best practices.

There is no doubt that this book is written by experts who have extensive experience in the subject, which is covered in different chapters. Solid and thorough content, plenty of code, easy-to-understand diagrams, lots of tips along with each topic and simple language are the key highlights of this book.

Rating: 5 Stars

Summary: There is no doubt that this book is by far one of the best books available for anybody who is interested in SQL Server Internals and applying its knowledge to real world troubleshooting scenarios. I think this is one of the must-have books for understanding SQL Server, and believe me, you will find yourself flipping the pages of the book when you are facing a trouble with the SQL Server instead of using search engine!

Very Useful SQL Server Book
This book has 16 chapters of valuable information, written by a collection of well-regarded SQL Server experts, many them Microsoft SQL MVPs. The authors include Christian Bolton, Justin Langford, Brent Ozar, James Rowland-Jones, Steven Wort, Cindy Gross, and Jonathan Kehayias.

This book is heavily focused on the database engine, with lots of low level detail on hardware and different tools for measuring and monitoring performance. I would have liked to seen a chapter on DMV queries, but other than that, I am very happy with this book. Highly recommended. ... Read more

Product Description

Customer Reviews (29)

good book but has errors
There are many errors in this book. The errors are located at [...]. This slowed my learning.I certainly did learn a lot from this book and hence will give it a 4/5.

Not too good
The errors are many, even the posted erata on [...] has errors. For example, on page 12 it states that there are 4 Sql versions that can be deployed in a production env. Enterprise, Standard, Workgroup and Express. This is laid out below in a table of features per version, listed as Standard, Workgroup, Express and Compact. What happened to Enterprise? It's missing, and we have compact in its place. The entire chapter is focused on features and versions and there is nothing for Enterprise. So taking the question at the end of the chapter requires that you know about enterprise edition (which you don't) even though "D. Sql Server 2008 Enterprise" may be the correct answer.

But also I felt that I got ripped off. The book cover and description says that there are hundreds of test questions in the practice exams on the CD. In my CD there were 3 exams, each of them allowing only 5 questions each. And these exams were ALL about Windows Server 2000 or Sql Server 2000. Apparently I must buy a fully functional version of VisualCertExam Manager to read the rest of the questions. Thanks, M.S. Nice switch and bait.

It is a good book BUT...
The important thing to note of this book is ensure you check the errata page on O'Reilly's product page for this book.

I believe the low points of the book have been hit by most of the other reviewers of the book. This is the point I want to make: when did this book get published? Copyright page shows 2009. What year is it? 2010, I think it is time for a new revision of this book to come out, especialy since a service pack has already been released and SQL Server 2008 R2 has come out.Although I don't know that the exam is being updated yet for all this.

I have taken the 70-432 exam (and passed).I took the exam prior to completely reading this book, which that is mostly due to expiration of a voucher coupon. However I do believe this book will help you in preparing for the exam. As many other people state and in general for taking Microsoft exams this should not be your only source. I have worked with SQL Server since 2004 (year not version:). I started playing with SQL Server 2008 not long after it came out.If you are familar and work frequently with SQL Server 2005 this book is useful for getting you aquainted with the new features of 2008 and the changes made on how it handles some things.

The content of the book covers pretty much every detail of SQL Server that you would encounter, even if you have not worked with SQL Server 2005. So it can be a good reference book to refresh up on a particular area of SQL Server 2008. The practice exam is invaluable if you have not taken Microsoft tests before. They actually do help you find the weak areas you have with SQL Server. I believe this content mixed with SQL Server Books Online could be used to prepare for the exam if you have access to an installation of SQL Server 2008.

Overall if you want to learn SQL Server 2008 and study for the exam this book is an option.Although you need to pay attention to the errata page on O'Reilly for the information in the book that is not correct. That link is found here: [...]

The Book is only as good as the reader
I want to start out by identifying myself.I'm a SQL DBA I've got around 8 years of experience, I've got my MCITP for SQL 2005 for Database Administration.So I've read the 70-431 book cover to cover and I can understand some of the criticism of this book, but will address that later.

I bought this book to train for the 70-431 test, I didn't upgrade my cert but choose to take 70-431 & 70-450.Now I studied the book like crazy, I made flash cards, I used the CD in the back of the book, but I did not rely on it.Anything that I felt was not flushed out as well as I liked I would study on MSDN, or great blogs like Paul Randal's.I read several white papers, and was able to use a lot of the knowledge in the work place, which re-enforced my studies..... And I passed the Cert test.Mike's knowledge of SQL Server is great, but there are a lot of sections where Deep Dives will reveal more detail and may even contradict what is written.But bottom line if you study the book, the concepts, and the practices, and know them inside and out then this book is enough to prep you for the exam.

If you want to be a SQL Rockstar, (Google Brent Ozar and SQL Rockstar and read his article), then this is a beginning and you have a lot more work to do.But that goes with a lot of things in life, if all you are willing to do is crack open this book, study it's questions, and do nothing more to prepare for this exam then you are missing a lot of SQL Server Knowledge and while you *might* pass the test you will be a so/so DBA, then that is your choice.

But Dear Reader it is up to you to get that knowledge and Mike does a great job of providing you a diving board to spring from.The question remains, how far do you want to go as a SQL DBA and how hard are you willing to chase it?A book is a book.The reader determines what is achieved with the knowledge they derive from the book.

IN COMPARISON TO 70-431

There is a review that states that this book is far inferior to the 70-431 book.And I would agree.

I would, however, like to point out that Microsoft has tried to specify the SCOPE of DBA training.Whereas 70-431 had to address DBA, Database Developer, and BI (until BI was later split out on it's own path), 70-432 only covers DBA items, and the scope of the exam is also narrowed.

So is 70-431 a better more inclusive book?Yes, but it should be.

It is like saying the Star Wars Trilogy is a more complete story than just Empire Strikes Back.

Yes it should be it is 3 movies not 1.

And yes 70-431 should be, it was meant to cover 3 subjects not 1 (even thoug it was weak on BI which is why they split it out).

This is a very Good book, and I recommend it to anyone who is studying to take the 70-432 exam.

Let's see, (pull's out check list)
Fan boy mentions of Paul Randal and Brent Ozar.....Check
Find a way to bring Star Wars into the conversation....Check

well I think that covers it I hope this review helps you decide if you will buy the book or not.

Great format and poor authorship
I recommend this book because of it's format and still valuable content.
However...
Honorable author Mr.Hotek
If I had to mention every technical mistake and every 'fisherman' story you have in this book, I would be able to write another book about your book.
If you stop telling your endless stories about you saving your 'mythical' clients who run 1000's of databases, tech. proofing book text and stop 'watering' needed context with questionable advises, this book would easily get 5 stars because it's format deserves 50 stars.

Here are few examples.
1. page 597 where you write about yourself:
An application
developer for about three decades and a Microsoft SQL Server professional for almost two decades, he has
consulted on over 1,000 SQL Server projects
He is proficient in over 40 development languages or platforms.

Note 40 LANGUAGES and 1 consulting project every 5 days over 20 yr - simply impossible to believe.
Don't call me root, but I doubt anybody can pass an interview claiming he is proficient with 10 or even 7 languages, not 40.

pg. 592, last line: 'Alter Login' is used to re-map logins and db users - this is the wrong answer because 'alter login' does not remap logins and users. There is no right answer in the set you provide. Right answer would be 'sp_change_users_login'


pg. 597, Answer on question 'Which raid provide best combination of performance and fault tolerance'.
According to Mr. Hotek, raid 5 provides less fault tolerance then raid 10. This is wrong because raid 10 provides better performance on write and slightly lesser performance on read and equal tolerance.
So depending on application of that resource your answer could be either completely wrong of only 50%.

However I would like to ask Mr. Hotek question if he knows how to measure disk performance of raid 10, 5 or any other? Because it's simple but he does not mention it in a book which I think would be very practical.
Implementation of raids is different from company to company, from architecture (SAN vs. DAS) and I happened to be testing all of it.

pg. 490:
Best Practices
SSMS provides a single interface for configuring all the components of log shipping.
Although the interface can perform all the configuration, most database administrators
(DBAs) prefer to use Transact-SQL to set up log shipping.

That's another example of highly subjective and I think wrong view presented.
While I am coding about 30yr and 20 yr with tsql and consider myself very 'scriptable' person(Korn Shell, vbs, Perl), I can not agree with above statement.
I was coding 'log shipping' on ms sql and Sybase for at least 10yr. However, when it came out as an option in ms sql, I do not even try and haven't seen anybody doing it manually.

... and this list goes on and on.
I actually do not have problem with technical 'wholes' in Mr. Hotek book or his own, I have a problem that his often wrong views are projected to large community. ... Read more

Product Description

Customer Reviews (5)

Superior multi-author textbook
Most multi-author technical texts suffer from repetition, problems with consistent naming, or even areas of frank disagreement.This book is superbly edited, and one hears the different voices of the authors, but there is a careful coordination of content.I used the book, in combination with the lead author's "fundamentals" book, to gain a rapid introduction to the field.The discussion of set theory and predicate logic is superior, and the authors' do a superior job of gently leading you down the introductory road to the product.I liked the fact that they consistently draw a distinction between extensions of standards SQL and T-SQL.

Too "in-depth". Not easy to read but packaged with good TSQL info. Not for the newbie.
I just went yesterday to a famous bookstore here in town to check this one before order it online and left a bit disappointed, with no desire at all to buy it. Don't get me wrong, Itzik is an awesome writer, a genius on his field, but I do not share the previous 5 start opinions and I will explain why.

I do not consider myself an TSQL expert but got some SQL DBA years on my belt and a MCTS cert too. Having said that and after almost finish reading Microsoft SQL Server 2008 T-SQL Fundamentals (PRO-Developer), same author, I found this one very difficult to follow, flooded with tons of theory and math that for a TSQL book is in my opinion too much. Yes, SQL language has strong logic and math background but that is not what DBAs or developers are looking on a technical book and this is not a college book either; people are looking for practical books which can be quickly be applied on daily job activities.

Chapter #2 for example is full of logic and math stuff that I honestly skipped immediately. Nice as bonus information but not "straight to the point" T-SQL stuff. You can easily take that chapter out and keep the book lighter in my honest opinion. Same for Chapter#3, more logic and math stuff, related to T-SQL, yes, but no the real stuff.

Chapter 1, 7 and 10 are taken of Microsoft SQL Server 2008 T-SQL Fundamentals (PRO-Developer), which by the way, is an outstanding book. Those chapters are about SELECT, JOINS and DML, information that like I said, can be found on the Fundamentals book but in an easy to read style, even with exercises so you can evaluate your own skills.

Chapter #4 is probably the more interesting chapter of the whole book, is about query performance. I must accept Itzik dominates the material but introduces so many complex query concepts and statements that you will get lost in no time. He even mentions he wasn't so sure about where to put this chapter, end of beginning, because the way he's using complex DMVs. But I believe you still can explain query performance without being so technical. This chapter is just full of complex query techniques that make even more complex the explanation of performance tuning strategies. I prefer SQL Server 2008 Query Performance Tuning Distilled by Grant Fritchey; a book just dedicated for that topic but delightful and easy to follow, without being a "dummy book".

In order to be fair and make justice though, the book is really full of theory about logical query processing, set theory and algorithms, foundations of what SQL language is. If you have a really strong background of TSQL query (I mean, really strong TSQL skills), math and the enough time to digest and understand that, this book is for you.

But to me, this book can be out of your book shelve and be easily replaced by this combo instead: SQL Server 2008 Query Performance Tuning Distilled+Microsoft SQL Server 2008 T-SQL Fundamentals (same author) Both will teach the same in a better and easy to follow approach, skipping all the logic, math and boring sql language foundationwhich to me, are unnecessary on this kind of books especially if you are not in college anymore, but working as a full time DBA.

Very well done
I'm new to T-SQL, but not new to database programming.I found this to be an excellent reference for the advanced programmer.The examples are well thought out and well organized.He often gives several different examples of how to solve a problem along with the pros and cons of each solution.

What else can we ask to have in one book about T-SQL Querying?
I have really enjoyed this book from the begining to the end.

The new chapters from Steve and Dejan:

- Set Theory and Predicate Logic
- Algorithms and Complexity
- The Relational Model

are a very good complement. Having these topics is handy and refreshing, not to mention a must in this discipline.

Itzik's cover about the new T-SQL features introduced with SQL Server 2008, is insightful and very well guided. No doubt that he is an educator by nature.

If you are new to T-SQL, I strongly recommend that you first read Itzik's book "Microsoft® SQL Server® 2008 T-SQL Fundamentals", prior to diving into this series (T-SQL Querying and T-SQL Programming).

Thanks to all the authors for such wonderful book.

Alejandro Mesa
SQL Server MVP

Great mentoring book
As usual books from Itzik Ben-Gan give me better understanding of hard-to-grasp concept related to set theory and SQL query.
... Read more

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Customer Reviews (9)

Microsoft SQL Server 2008 Step by Step (Step by Step (Microsoft))
Is a Step by Step book and is really oriented to people with a very basic knowledge of SQL. What I liked most is that match at most SQL 2008 R2 options, when with a SQL 2005 book was impossible to follow the logics of the software as there has been an evolution in the software itself.

Moreover, you have many exercices and even an ebook inside the CDroom.

Excellent book for a beginner DBA in SQL Server 2008
This is an excellent book for a beginner DBA in SQL Server 2008. CD included.

Good start with, but if you have already started -- worthless
Simple style, not much on anything really, but as usual for the Step-by-step series it walk you through the whole lot.
I got this book together with some others and don't think will even open it again.
I have not actually read it, as you imagine, just skipped through and realised that it's a bit late for me to read it.
The book it only suitable to someone who wants to start learning MS SQL straight from 2008 and has almost no prior knowledge of relational databases, or came from MS ACCESS space.

good book for starters
good book for starters. would have been great if there are more examples to practice with.

Scripts don't work but otherwise ....
I'm only on page 93 and already there are 2 scripts that don't work. Because I'm new to SQL this is a major setback because I have to now try to find a resource to help me resolve the problems until I can move forward. I have checked the errata but no mention of these broken scripts.

The author does a great job of making complex topics easy to understand and the book is organized well. The content seems to be most of what any beginning SQL admin would need to know.

I recommend the book but aware you will have trouble with the scripts.
... Read more

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Customer Reviews (51)

a lot of trivial problems
The books has some worthwhile information in the last third of the book, but most of it is very basic material:

- how to get the smallest and largest values from a columns(use the min and max and group by functions - this is good for novices, of no use to me)
- how to insert a record ?
- counting rows in a table:-)
- it doesnt contain Sybase examples - though the syntax will work in most cases


In fairness there are some good parts as well, all I'm saying is this is not a great book if you are already experienced.
Its good for beginners.

Optimizing Transact SQl is far more useful for advanced SQL users.

Nice
I, for one, am very pleased with this product.

In over 500 pages the author covers a lot of ground, for various DBMS, as can be seen on the front cover:SQL Server, PostgresSQL, Oracle, MySQL and DB2.In addition, I liked the organization of each solution:problem-->solution-->discussion.

Lastly, while some things will be obvious to a seasoned SQL developer, there are still a lot of things that I would expect will not be (for example, section 12.11 on
'Returning Non-GROUP BY Columns').Also, as the book was published in 2006, it includes window functions.

So, all in all, I am very pleased with this book.Another book regarding SQL that I would recommend is 'SQL tuning', also published by O' Reilly.

SQL Cookbook
SQL Cookbook (Cookbooks (O'Reilly))

Interestingly, book doesn't so much compare SQL syntax as between the 5 featured databases but rather gives you different ways to go in accomplishing a particular task. Also, BEWARE as you will not find ANY DDL coverage, so if you are wondering why - for example - use of IDENTITY throws an error in MySQL, you are simply out of luck with respect to explainations and/or alternatives thereto. Remaining coverage is pretty concise and easy to understand.

Chock-full of info, but needs an index!
I'm not going to summarize the text, since other reviews have done that very well. The only thing I want to contribute is that I bought the Kindle version for my iPod, and it doesn't have an index. I've had to return to the table of contents multiple times and still needed to guess where a keyword might appear. (Would you know, for example, that the "minus" set difference function appeared in the section titled, "Retrieving values from one table that do not exist in another" if you were unfamiliar with SQL?) There is so much information in this book that I reference constantly, and an index complete with hyperlinks to appropriate sections would have helped so much! As it is, I need the paper version of this book for my office, and the Kindle to read on the bus to work. Still, I would HIGHLY recommend this book to anyone who uses SQL, no matter what platform.

An Excellent Value
The price I paid Amazon is a fourth of the list price.The book was listed as slightly damaged. But the damage is very minor - there is a wrinkle in the cover, and one page had a little section ripped off.I'll accept that level of damage any day.

I haven't spent as much time with it as I would like to, so my review is based on just a few uses.Molinaro starts off with very basic SQL.Then the examples get more interesting.What I like about the book is that it shows how to go from a verbal description of what information you want to the actual query that makes it happen. ... Read more

Product Description
Harness the power of SQL Server, Microsoft’s high-performance database and data analysis software package, by accesing everything you need to know in Microsoft SQL Server 2008 Bible. Learn the best practices, tips, and tricks from this comprehensive tutorial and reference, which includes specific examples and sample code, with nearly every task demonstrated in both a graphical and SQL code method. Understand how to develop SQL Server databases and data connections, how to administer the SQL Server and keep databases performing optimally, and how to navigate all the new features of the 2008 release. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (5)

Essential Book for SqlServer/DBA developers
This book it's very complete, Covers almost all features of Sql Server 2008, not in depth, but it gives a nice direction for many features. Essential for beginners and most experienced in older versions do MS SQL Server. Covers all news features with examples.

You can tell he lives, eats and breathes SQL Server
I have the two previous editions (2000 and 2005).
This one is heavier than the other two - 1642 pages compared to 1293 and 890.
And the paper stock is better as well.
The tone is almost conversational in that Paul Nielsen comes up with likely scenarios to show the syntax of a command.
You can tell that a lot of his tips come from hindsight.Here's an example of a Best Practice tip found on page 263: "Use a join to pull data from two data sources that can be filtered or manipulated as a whole after the join.If the data must be manipulated prior to the join, then use a derived table subquery."

That piece of advice comes from someone who has had to tackle problems using both techniques.

And he's not afraid to tell you worst practices either.Page 547: "Any table design that requires sparse columns is a horrible design."
This is especially helpful if you're learning a new feature and want to know if it's worth the effort.

Don't think that this is an A-Z reference manual.
Chapter 53 is Mr. Nielsen's "AutoAudit", which is quite a nifty code generator to add auditing to your tables.

Understands SQL Server
Paul Nielson is one of the few people out there who really understands SQL Server in depth.This book works very well with the author's video course, published by Total Training.

A comprehensive coverage of SQL Server 2008
I was introduced to this huge informative book by one of my friends at work place. This is a great reference book for almost everyone starting from beginners to advanced database programmers/admins. It is very difficult to cover all aspects of SQL Server in a single book. Howver, the authr(s) have done a good job in covering almost all the features of SQL Servers. This book helps developers who want to know one and everything in SQL Server. However, certain chapers such as "Service Broker" could have been detailed out more considering that these are more advanced. I especially liked the Partitioning, LINQ, Change Data Capture. It has touched upon the Business intelligence and it could have been done better. However, as I said it is already a huge book and adding more materials would have been even more. Rather this solves the purpose to a great deal as a reference book for almost all domains DBAs and developers to jump start in SQL Server.

Perfect for Developers and DBA's
SQL Server 2008 Bible is an absolute must for anyone wishing to enhance their SQL Server skills. There is information in there for everyone from a Developer being able to write more optimal queries to the Database Administrator who has much more complicated tasks to accomplish. This book took my knowledge from a very basic level as a developer to a level where I became a database answer point for many on my development team. I strongly recommend this book to anyone that wishes to enhance their SQL Server knowledge. This book is also one of the few that I always have within easy reach when working on development tasks. ... Read more

Product Description

SQL Server 2008 Query Performance Tuning Distilled presents a direct trouble–shooting methodology for identifying poorly performing stored procedures and queries, isolating the causes of that poor performance, and fixing the underlying problems. Each chapter is dedicated to one of the top causes of poorly performing queries and shows methods for identifying and dealing with the problems in that chapter’s domain. Emphasis is always put upon or placed upon practical methods that you can put to immediate use in your day–to–day work. SQL Server 2008 functionality, tips, and tricks are emphasized in each subject area.

• Emphasizes the practical. Does not bury readers in theory.
• Gives readers practical techniques to immediately apply in their daily work.
• Dedicates a chapter to each of the most common, performance–related problem areas.

Customer Reviews (15)

SQL Server DBA Rave Review
From a Simple-Talk article to eBook on Query Plans help create a great book from Grant Fritchey. I met Grant at SQL PASS in 2008 and then at SQLSaturday in New York, where he demonstrated addictive enthusiasm about SQL Server. I bought this book as soon as it went on sell. This was a missing piece of information for the SQL Server community until Grant and Sajal brought this book to the market. Please buy and read this book if you are a DBA or developer that has to tune queries in your job.

Thanks,
Thomas LeBlanc, MCDBA & MCITP

SQL Server 2008 Query Performance Tuning Distilled
Book delivered quickly and in new condition.
The book is a clearly written book with detailed information.

Smarter for reading this book
One of the best things for me about this book was that I was able to read most of it while riding the bus to work. Grant did such a good job of explaining the results of each step, I was able to understand each point without trying it out for myself on a computer. I think I am pretty good with T-SQL and query tuning, but, by reading this book, I now have a methodical way to address performance problems.

A consummate approach to performance tuning with SQL Server
I found this book extremely valuable to me as a means of learning how to effectively tune SQL Server systems and workloads. I also expect it to continue providing value as a trusted reference resource. The insight provided regarding how the multitude of system processes interact and affect performance was clearly and concisely presented. Anyone developing for or administering a SQL Server based system will find significant value in reading this book. Overall it is a superb source of information providing tools, techniques, and an analysis framework to help address performance in a systematic and holistic manner. I would recommend this book to anyone dealing directly, or otherwise, with performance of a SQL Server instance or application. The introduction stated "With the right tools, you can tackle performance problems with a calmness and reliability..." and the book absolutely delivers in providing those tools. If you work with SQL Server you should have this book in your library and kept close at hand.

Performance Tuning actually distilled
A very good reference book on SQL server performance tuning on diverse directions.

On the initial chapters, you can find a good introduction on Performance tuning, Performance analysis and on the Database Engine Tuning Advisor. There are various analysis and optimization techniques explained in later chapters. There is comprehensive information about most common performance issues that occurs due to Query designs and deadlocks.

We can find more information on tuning indexes like when and where to apply what type of index.Later, the workload optimization techniques explains ways to identify and research expensive queries and jobs and "What not" to do to avoid performance issues. This book helps not only to write individual queries without any performance flaws, it also helps to find where the flaws are in existing queries. I would like to mention that there are good of examples of queries (which everyone look for) which make the reader to understand where performance issues or bottlenecks occur and what to do with it.

One good sense I had when I started reading the book is it isn't that hard to read through the book even you are new to performance tuning in SQL server. I would strongly recommend this book for all database performance professionals (Even the beginners in Performance Tuning).
... Read more

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Customer Reviews (4)

Inside Microsoft SQL Server 2008-T-SQL Programming Book Review
I have used SQL Server since the 6.5/7.0 days and thought I knew enough to get by. I had various experiences with SQL Server 2000/2005, and then did not immediately use SQL Server 2008 until the Spring of 2010; I took a T-SQL CLASS using SQL Server 2008 at Mt. San Antonio College in Walnut, California. I learned a great deal that I did not previously know from Professor Shui-lien Huang, a very excellent teacher.

You can work with SQL Server, and unless you have the opportunity to have many challenges to stretch your skills, you may seemingly work in a silo and never learn all of it, which is a good reason to buy this book: "Inside Microsoft SQL Server 2008: T-SQL Programming". I am glad I had the T-SQL class before reading this book.

This book contains the typical coverage for a standard T-SQL statement, and then User-Defined Functions (UDFs), Triggers, Stored Procedures, Views, etc., but also some new things. For example, extending SQL Server by using CLR (Common Language Runtime) user defined types, the use of XML, dynamic SQL, and Service Broker for reliable, asynchronous processing, and Spatial Data (i.e. geodata).
On the subject of Spatial Data in Chapter 14, Microsoft has brought forth new data types, operators, and indexes to the database. Microsoft introduces the core spatial concepts and provides key programming constructs to successfully navigate this new feature in SQL Server 2008. There are 70 pages covering Spatial Data. Obviously, this is a heavy topic.

Because of auditing and compliance requirements, the issue of tracking access and changes to data has become much more important. This book shows how previous versions of SQL Server did take care of this to some degree, but in SQL Server 2008, Microsoft has added the following: change tracking, change data capture, Extended Events, and SQL Server Audit. The book shows provides guidance on where each of these new technologies is best used, and then goes on to show how to implement each technology.

This is not a beginner's T-SQL book, but it does cover beginner topics, as mentioned above. In addition, it covers some of the new aspects of SL Server 2008 that are more complex. This is most assuredly a valuable reference book that all T-SQL and .NET developers and database administrators should have nearby. It will give you excellent instruction and answers to your T-SQL questions.

Inside Microsoft SQL Server 2008: T-SQL Programming (Pro-Developer)
I would strongly recommend this book. Very detailed description of innovative techniques in all editions of SQL Server 2008. I really enjoyed the ease of the chapters ,and implements in discussion. Once you start reading, very addictive.

Outstanding Book Covering T-SQL Programming w/ SQL Server 2008
Being primarily a database and web developer, I feel more than experienced enough to review 'Inside Microsoft SQL Server 2008: T-SQL Programming' by Itzik Ben-Gan and others and I feel more and easily able to give this ***** and highly recommend this text.All the basics are covered in this 800 page book.It's not a teaching book that will give you all the ins and outs of database design and use, but it will show you what the major points of using SQL Server 2008 are, and how to get the most out of them.

Major topics covered are Views, User-Defined Functions, Stored Procedures, Triggers, Transactions & Concurrency, Error Handling, Temporary Tables/Table Variables, Cursors, Dynamic SQL, Date/Time usage, CLR User-Defined Types, Temporal Support, XML & XQuery usage, Spatial Data, Tracking Access and Changes, and finally Service Broker discussion.

The parts of the book that I enjoyed most were the last 6 chapters, as discussion on CLR usage, Spatial Data, and the like are limited in most other SQL Server books.I especially loved the chapter on Spatial data, a very important subject that has much, much greater support than years in the past.

If you are a SQL Server developer or admin, you owe it to yourself to take a hard look at this great book.It is written fantastic and is a great resource that I found useful from the moment I picked it up.

***** HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

One of the best books ever
Just like all the other books by Itzik Ben-Gan, this book is one of the best SQL books ever published. ... Read more

Product Description

Topics covered: How to use Oracle PL/SQL in all its manifestations through Oracle9i. Fundamentals of program structure (loops, cases, exceptions, etc.) and execution get attention, as do data types, transaction management, triggers, and the object-oriented aspects of the language. There's also coverage of calls to external Java and C programs. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (94)

Kindle Edition not the latest
Amazon sais that this kindle book includes 11g features, but it does not! The kindle edition is the 4th edition, including 10g features.

Oracle PL/SQL Programming: Covers Versions Through Oracle Database 11g Release 2 (Animal Guide)
With the exception of the first edition, I have purchase all others that Steve has published. Not bad for a self-confessed newby programmer. Just kidding. It is the one book I would want if I were stuck on a desert island. Of course, for a lack of firewood, well sorry Steve; we have to do what we have to do.

I have been a professional PL/SQL programmer since the mid-eighties. On one job, an earlier edition made me a hero. Today, I program for the US Army Aeromedical establishment, so I serve the heros and proud of it. My one and only PL/SQL book I keep at my side is this book. Steve, keep up the good work. It would not hurt my feelings if you wrote a book on the practical side of PL/SQL for DBAs as I find myself involved in DDL work 1/3 of my project life cycle so scripts and hints would always be welcomed.I do have a copy of Donald Burleson's DBA Scripts affectionately known as Code Depot and I take nothing away from Donald, but I enjoy the format used in the Oracle PL/SQL; it is the best even though it is just my opinion.

The "all you want to know" PL/SQL reference book
If you're looking for a book that can be your reference for every doubt you may have in PL/SQL programming, its syntax and constructions, that's the book for you. The examples are very clear and easy to understand. The author uses examples in both ways, before applying a certain functionality and after applying it, which makes comprehension much better. In case I had no PL/SQL book so far, I wouldn't waste my time buying other ones. There is only one cons: the size and weight of this book. It's not something you'll like to carry in your backpack everyday, but keeping in your shelf as a handy reference book.

Very comprehensive and thorough but heavy
It covers PL/SQL very well with many practical examples that can be readily used. The topics are comprehensive and the explanations are very clear. One problem: it's way to heavy to hold and read. I wish there is a Kindle version or eBook.

Next best thing to being in a class
If you need to learn about PL/SQL this book is the next best thing to actually being in a class. It answered so many questions and was a huge help to me. ... Read more

Product Description

Customer Reviews (6)

it is hard to follow to install the practice file
It is hard to follow and install SQL server 2008 and analysis service. The book only shows the website to download. There is no detail to explain and install the entire requirement, including Visual Studio 2008.

Outstanding...
I just finished this book and I am really impressed with it -- It was very well written: the chapters are very organized from beginning to end; it is very easy to follow and you get to practice in each sub-section as you go, steps by steps just like the title said; when you are done with it, it gives you a good foundation of basic knowledge to intermediate level of SSAS 2008; and every explanation it has in the book is just right (not lengthly) and neccessary for you to understand.

What struck me the most is the book has no error -- can you believe it? It's a miracle. Most of the technical books I bought so far I was so frustrated because not only they are not organized, but errors appear left and right in the code and in the exercises. I read this book and followed every step to the T, and everything works as it said (I have SQL Server 2008 Developer Edition and VS Team System 2008 Development Edition, but if you have the basic system requirements requirements said in the book, it should work as well).

Easy and breezy - excellent introduction to SSAS OLAP
This is an excellent starter for the OLAP portion of SSAS.

Chapters 1 and 2 provide a great introduction to some of the initially quirky concepts that SSAS uses. (A proper understanding of fundamental things like attribute hierarchies is crucial, especially if you come to SSAS with dangerous baggage from non-MDX-based BI platforms. If this describes you, make sure you understand these 2 chapters implicitly before proceeding).

Each of the following chapters has the same format - a conceptual overview followed by some exercises. The overview pieces are usually short (yet fairly complete, for overviews), very readable and can absolutely stand on their own - in other words, you can return to the material months later and clarify a concept in 60 seconds without having to wade through pages of rambling blather. I find this quite unusual for what is nominally an exercise-oriented book.

Chapters 8 and 10 contain nuggets regarding Scenario Dimensions and Writeback - personally I would really like to have seen the discussion on Planning applications developed a bit further, butit's probably of fairly narrow interest. Chapter 13 contains the best conceptual overview of Aggregation Design that I have yet seen.

If you find SSAS OLAP the most exciting part of the MS BI stack, and want to focus solely within that area, this is the best place to start. It's an easy (and at only 400 pages, quite breezy) read - you won't be a master when you get through it (specifically, MDX), but you will understand all of the major SSAS concepts, and that's an achievement in itself.

Note to SSAS OLAP newbies: Do NOT use the MSFT Books Online to start with. The tutorials there are adequate when it comes to button-pushing, and the technical reference sections are excellent when you have achieved a level of competency ... however, neither addresses the CONCEPTS properly ... start with this book and save yourself 3-6 months of pain!

Excellent book
I bought this book and started building cubes in a very short time frame.I would highly recommend this book to anyone who is new to SSAS 2008.

Great book to get you going
Excellent step by step setup, configuring, creating, and so forth. Get this book if you need a guided example so you don't waste your time troubleshooting procedures. ... Read more

Product Description
This book is designed to teach application developers all of the skills they need to use SQL to work with a Microsoft SQL Server 2008 database. But it's also a great first book for developers who are on the path to becoming a DBA.

Unlike most SQL Server 2008 books, this one starts by showing you how to use SQL queries to extract and update the data in a database, because that's what every application developer needs to know first. Then, it shows how to design and implement a database, how to use powerful backend database features like views, stored procedures, functions, triggers, cursors, transactions, locking, security, and how to work with BLOB and XML data. Finally, it shows how to use the CLR integration feature to create database objects using a .NET language such as C# or Visual Basic.

From the publisher

To complete your SQL Server skills, section 5 shows you how to use the CLR integration feature. This feature allows you to create database objects like stored procedures and user-defined types using a .NET language like C# or Visual Basic. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (15)

The Book was sent destroyed
The Book was sent destroyed.The book was sent like this since the origin beacause tha package from Fedex was good.

Great books--Great Amazon service
This is my third Murach's book. They've been the required textbooks for several of my college classes.The information is very well organized.There is an example on every right side facing page, with brief information in outline form below.On the left facing page, there is detailed information about the example.This format makes it very easy to skim through information I already have some knowledge of, and quickly identify where the detailed information is needed.I've contiuned to use all of the books as references for C#,[...] 3.5 and SQL Server 2008.

One of the best
The Murach books are great books for learning and reference.Many of the software 'brick' books are so full of fluff and examples are hard to apply, this is not the case with Murach.He uses examples that are complete and does not leave gaps for you to figure out on your own.I have been able to get up to speed on several topics using these books.

I am a Business Analysis Manager and I use C# and SQL server daily.These books have enabled me to learn quickly and use the examples in my work right away.

Great book, bad e-book
WHY I WANT TO GIVE IT 5 STARS:
I learn better when I understand the "why," in addition to the "how." Even if the additional explanations of the "why" add to the total page count, they are well worth it, in my opinion. The explanations of the practical uses of various features are extremely helpful to someone like me because it makes things "stick." The "paired pages" approach is very effective. The book is down-to-business without any stupid attempts at humor, which I appreciate.

WHY I WANT TO GIVE IT 1 STAR:
As someone who went paperless several years ago and appreciates the excellent commenting (i.e., highlighting, notetaking, etc) and navigation features of PDFs and Safari Books Online, I am extremely disappointed that such a terrific book is relegated to such an awful e-book format. The "LockLizard" viewer is a far cry from Adobe Reader, Acrobat, or Safari Books Online. The publisher claims that the LockLizard format is used because it is more user-friendly than other viewers, but I don't buy it. I assume the real reason for the LockLizard format is copy protection. I think copy protection is a good idea, but only if the ebook experience isn't severely degraded as a result of it.

WHY I GAVE IT 3 STARS:
I'll happily raise my rating to 5 stars when the book is published in PDF format or added to Safari Books Online. Until then, I'm giving it 3 stars. I plan on purchasing many more of these Murach books because the content and style is excellent, but I'll remain frustrated with the ebook interface unless the move to PDF or Safari Books Online is made for the whole Murach catalog.

Excellent, in-depth reference
This book is a lot more than just a collection of information. It presents topics in a very easy-to-understand format and progression. If you want to learn about SQL server in-depth, this is the choice for you. ... Read more