Others say...

"An all-time favorite"
In early 2000, I was asked to learn ASP and SQL. First I picked up Beginning ASP 2.0 Programming and later Professional SQL Server 2000 Programming. This SQL book made both programming SQL Server and administering SQL Server easy to understand. It was also an invaluable resource for passing the MCDBA exams.

Robert Vieira is a wonderful, wonderful technical book author and this book is still one of my favorites nearly 5 years later after I bought it. It is one of the few books that I couldn't put down -- I read it cover to cover within a few weeks. I very much recommend this title for anyone learning SQL Server programming or administration. And even though its "Professional" and not "Beginning", it's still a great beginners guide. While it's also decent for moderately experienced programmers, experts will find Ken Henderson's "The Guru's Guide to Transact-SQL" to be of much greater use.

As previously stated, this book focuses not only on programming but administration too and people who enjoyed the admin basics will find that Brian Knight's Admin911 picks up where this book leaves off.

"Good book, but don't set your expectation so high"
From all the books on my shelf that discuss this subject, SQL Server 2000 Design and T-SQL programming (despite its rating in Amazon) and this book (in that order) are my favorites. Regarding this book, it is comprehensive and managed to cover a lot of important subjects although by no means completely. If this is your first book about the subject, you will defiantly benefit from it as it will hold your hands and tech you how to take your first steps without falling and hurting your self and then it will also take you to the level that you are walking on our own but that is it (which is a lot) don't expect any acrobatic moves.

In other words, don't set your expectation so high; the book has its own share of nonsense and it is a lot. I had to go back to my collage days when I started with each text book by a process I called "garbage collection", you go through each page with a marker or pen and mark a whole section or paragraph as filling, nonsense, garbage, etc so if you have to come back and read the section, you don't waste your time reading this one again.

The book is full of these sections. For example, read the chapter on Views specifically the section on Indexed views page 326; there is a complete page telling you an Oracle story that only your PhD computer geek, database freak grandmother will care to tell you before she puts you to sleep (maybe for good). The author didn't mind wasting your time with this story but he was ok with next to useless discussion about the restrictions associated with creating Indexed Views. Can you use aggregate functions in this type of views? Are you allowed to aggregate columns that allow NULLs? Are you allowed to use Order By? Earlier in the chapter, the author said you can use Order By in view if you also use TOP; Is this still valid in the case of Indexed Views? You will not be able to answer all of these questions by reading this chapter. A brand new, million dollar feature (according to the story) like would deserve more attention but it didn't.

On Chapter 5 (Joining Tables) page 129; the author wanted to build a new data base to meet a certain requirements that doesn't exist in the sample database. What are these requirements he was after? He didn't say, read on you will find that he wanted a gerund table to represent Many-to-Many relationship that he described as follow:

[Quote] A vendor can have more than one address and vice versa [\Quote]

I still don't get it, how an address can have more than one vendor.

If I were in the author's shoes, I would take advantage of this opportunity and point first to a sloppy design in Pubs that allowed the Discount table to carry Store_ID in it and then correct the design by introducing a well designed two new tables Discounts (by themselves) and a Store_Discounts gerund table.

I will not even get close to the technical editing department in Wrox, I hate to disturb the sleep of those kind folks. Read this example at the bottom of page 561 and you will see what I mean
USE Northwind
SELECT OrderDate, CONVERT(VARCHAR(12) , OrderDate, 111) AS "Converted"
FROM Orders
WHERE OrderID = 11050

Yields us

Order Date Converted
--------------------- --------------
1998-04-27 00:00.00 2000/10/11

It is not even in the Errata even though I sent it to them few years ago.

The list can goes on but this is not my goal; I would not even mention those in details if the guide lines for the review specifically asked me to detail what I didn't like about the book. I am not trying to demean the author's effort I am only trying to set your expectation to, what I think, the correct level.

In short, the book is good but is not great and defiantly it will NOT qualify you to pass an important exam like 70-229 by itself as another reviewer indicated.




"Good Book to Own"
Title is correct. It is a professional manual for SQL Server 2000. Not for those without formal training although there are usable snippets in the book.

"Incredible."
Robert Vieira knows how to write!

His coverage of SQL is thorough and his ability to explain why you would use a feature is wonderful. Amazing clarity and thoughtful concise examples. And, he includes the complete syntax of SQL statements before explaining them, something lacking in other guru books.

It is a great buy.

Thanks Robert for your work.

"Best Book By Far...."
I've read the MSPress Certification book, BOL (SQL server Books Online), and neither come close to the under standing this book gives. Things I've read 5 times over in the other aforemenioned book and still didn't get an understanding, I read once in this book and understood right off.

I wished I had this book before taking the admin exam (I passed, but caught heck doing it).

aaron@aaronford.com