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Editor's picks

• 

  Microsoft SQL Server 2008 R2 Unleashed

  Book (Sams)
  

  Rating (21 reviews):

  (4.6/5)

  

  Useful technical reference for SQL DBA

  Microsoft keeps adding new functionality to SQL server so the latest version, SQL 2008 R2, has become vastly complex. So much so that Microsoft has divided up their DBA certifications into three specializations: core DBA and developer and BI. Correspondingly, technical books on SQL 2008 tend to be divided up along the same lines. Thus I would have thought it would be impossible to cover the whole in a single book. But this book attempts to do just that. And it does a pretty good job, in my opinion. Of course it cannot go into great depth on any one subject, but it goes into enough depth to be useful to a practicing DBA in any of the three categories.They manage it by making the book huge. So huge that, apparently, it can't all be printed in a single book. So when you buy the book, you get a book that is around 1700 pages (1550 pages of text and about 100 pages of index and 50 of front material) and in the back of the book is a CD that contains another 800 or so pages in... 5/5 charles pyle - See all my reviews This review is from: Microsoft SQL Server 2008 R2 Unleashed (Paperback) Microsoft keeps adding new functionality to SQL server so the latest version, SQL 2008 R2, has become vastly complex. So much so that Microsoft has divided up their DBA certifications into three specializations: core DBA and developer and BI. Correspondingly, technical books on SQL 2008 tend to be divided up along the same lines. Thus I would have thought it would be impossible to cover the whole in a single book. But this book attempts to do just that. And it does a pretty good job, in my opinion. Of course it cannot go into great depth on any one subject, but it goes into enough depth to be useful to a practicing DBA in any of the three categories.They manage it by making the book huge. So huge that, apparently, it can't all be printed in a single book. So when you buy the book, you get a book that is around 1700 pages (1550 pages of text and about 100 pages of index and 50 of front material) and in the back of the book is a CD that contains another 800 or so pages in... Read more Help other customers find the most helpful reviews  Was this review helpful to you? , November 28, 2010

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  Very poor QA process...

  To be honest, I have never seen such a poor QA process for a book. The chapter I was most interested in has numerous errors in it. Let me explain...This book comes with a CD containing another ~800 pages of supplemental chapters. Chapter 52, in PDF format on the CD, contains info on SQL Server Integration Services (SSIS). However, the CD's Chapter 52 code samples aren't for PDF Chapter 52--they're under the Chapter 46 folder. The "Chapter46_AllCodeExamples.sql" file has the correct code... For the first exercise in the chapter, if you paste the right code into the export query window & click "Parse" (like it says to do in the book), you'll get an error that says "Incorrect syntax near '`'." Unless you're already a SQL guru that knows the authors accidentally used the Unicode "open single quote" character as opposed to the standard ASCII apostrophe, you'll be lost. Once you fix that problem and click "Parse" again, you'll get the following 3 errors... 2/5 1PBFOOT "1PBFOOT" (Chicago, IL) - See all my reviews Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?) This review is from: Microsoft SQL Server 2008 R2 Unleashed (Paperback) To be honest, I have never seen such a poor QA process for a book. The chapter I was most interested in has numerous errors in it. Let me explain...This book comes with a CD containing another ~800 pages of supplemental chapters. Chapter 52, in PDF format on the CD, contains info on SQL Server Integration Services (SSIS). However, the CD's Chapter 52 code samples aren't for PDF Chapter 52--they're under the Chapter 46 folder. The "Chapter46_AllCodeExamples.sql" file has the correct code... For the first exercise in the chapter, if you paste the right code into the export query window & click "Parse" (like it says to do in the book), you'll get an error that says "Incorrect syntax near '`'." Unless you're already a SQL guru that knows the authors accidentally used the Unicode "open single quote" character as opposed to the standard ASCII apostrophe, you'll be lost. Once you fix that problem and click "Parse" again, you'll get the following 3 errors... Read more Help other customers find the most helpful reviews  Was this review helpful to you? , January 29, 2011

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  A case where the Kindle book beats print?

  I purchased the Kindle edition and am pleased to report that it does contain all 56 chapters, so no need to download "part 2" of the book as a pdf. The graphics are in colour and in all cases the text in screen-dumps is readable (if fuzzy). The index uses a notation like "CD:2331" when referring to pages that are on the pdf included with the print edition. Thankfully these links take you to the correct location in the Kindle book.The content is wide ranging but don't expect miracles in what is now a huge platform. For example Master Data Services gets only a short overview. Overall the book is very good value. 4/5 Lance M. Andrewes "lancenz" (Wellington, New Zealand) - See all my reviews, May 14, 2011

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  List Price: $59.99
  

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  Microsoft® SQL Server® 2008 T-SQL Fundamentals (PRO-Developer)

  Book (Microsoft Press)
  

  Rating (42 reviews):

  (4.6/5)

  

  Not just syntax, but the theory behind it

  I'm half way through this book and I am totally impressed. The author not only explains T-SQL syntax very systematically, but also explains enough of the theory behind it to help you understand why. This makes it much easier to optimize your syntax and avoid logical bugs in your code. This is not an introductory level SQL book, but it's not a book for experts either. I have been writing SQL for years and I have learned a great deal from this book already. I highly recommend this book if you are looking to take your SQL skills from basic/intermediate to a more advanced level. 5/5 UberGoober - See all my reviews This review is from: Microsoft® SQL Server® 2008 T-SQL Fundamentals (PRO-Developer) (Paperback) I'm half way through this book and I am totally impressed. The author not only explains T-SQL syntax very systematically, but also explains enough of the theory behind it to help you understand why. This makes it much easier to optimize your syntax and avoid logical bugs in your code. This is not an introductory level SQL book, but it's not a book for experts either. I have been writing SQL for years and I have learned a great deal from this book already. I highly recommend this book if you are looking to take your SQL skills from basic/intermediate to a more advanced level. Help other customers find the most helpful reviews  Was this review helpful to you? , December 15, 2008

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  Excellent book - clear focus and ordered presentation

  I have worked with T-SQL for about 11 years, but nevertheless immediately pre-ordered this "Fundamentals" book when I saw a blog post about it - for three reasons: (a) I wanted to fill in any missing gaps in my understanding of the language, (b) I wanted to learn what was new with the 2008 offering, and (c) I have heard Itzik Ben-gan speak and read his blog for sometime and always find his presentations to be excellent. I was not disappointed.For me, this has been one of those rare reads, where I can see where the topic is going but it is never dull because I either learn something new about the subject or the presentation clarifies what I already knew. I especially like how the book continually reinforces how T-SQL is built on set theory and predicate logic.Great read and reference. I highly recommend it.Kudos to the author. 5/5 Regan J. Wick "Regan Wick" (New Jersey) - See all my reviews, December 4, 2008

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  There just is no point in writing another book on T-SQL after this

  Film director Stanley Kubrick would make a film in a specific genre, after which there was almost no point in making movies in that genre any more. War movie - Paths of Glory, political satire - Dr Strangelove , historical film - Spartacus, science fiction - 2001 A Space Odyssey, horror - The Shining. Itzik Ben-Gan managed to do with his book what Kubrick did with his films. There just is no point in writing another book on T-SQL after his.The first thing I looked for when I picked the book at the post office was the section on Outer Joins. A common question when using outer joins that is the source of lot of confusion is whether to specify a predicate in the ON or WHERE clause of the query. Itzik explains it definitively: " You can see that with respect to rows from the preserved side of an outer join, the filter based on the ON predicate is not final. In other words, the ON predicate does not detremine whether the row will show up in the output, only whether... 5/5 Mladen Andrijasevic (Israel) - See all my reviews, February 9, 2009

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  List Price: $49.99
  

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  Microsoft® SQL Server® 2008 Step by Step (Step by Step (Microsoft))

  Book (Microsoft Press)
  

  Rating (15 reviews):

  (3.3/5)

  

  A Great Help in Understanding MS SQL Server

  I just completed a different MS SQL Server 2008 book, and am now wishing that I would have read this first, basically because the author, Hotek, is so much more concise and is defining terms as he goes, and is clearer when describing database concepts. So now I am forced to read this book too, just to clear up what was confusing in the first book!What this book has that the *other* didn't is a really organized approach to MS SQL Server, including a description of all the tools that come with it and a meaty section on Business Intelligence with chapters on SQL Server Integration, Reporting and Analysis Services, which is the reason I bought this book originally.As a side note, Mr. Hotek also obviously has a lot of experience and is sane... in Chapter 5, he gives an opinion on database design that I have secretly thought for years and I can't believe he said this: "...Lost in all of this material is the simple fact that tables have to be created to... 5/5 default_character (Reno, NV USA) - See all my reviews This review is from: Microsoft® SQL Server® 2008 Step by Step (Step by Step (Microsoft)) (Paperback) I just completed a different MS SQL Server 2008 book, and am now wishing that I would have read this first, basically because the author, Hotek, is so much more concise and is defining terms as he goes, and is clearer when describing database concepts. So now I am forced to read this book too, just to clear up what was confusing in the first book!What this book has that the *other* didn't is a really organized approach to MS SQL Server, including a description of all the tools that come with it and a meaty section on Business Intelligence with chapters on SQL Server Integration, Reporting and Analysis Services, which is the reason I bought this book originally.As a side note, Mr. Hotek also obviously has a lot of experience and is sane... in Chapter 5, he gives an opinion on database design that I have secretly thought for years and I can't believe he said this: "...Lost in all of this material is the simple fact that tables have to be created to... Read more Help other customers find the most helpful reviews  Was this review helpful to you? , January 14, 2009

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  A Good Introduction to SQL Server 2008

  This book was a pleasant surprise, I was looking for an introduction to SQL Server and this book was exactly that. The chapters were all in manageable sizes with the right amount of detail and exercises (%95+ worked as expected) to reinforce the topic. I don't usually write reviews, but if you are looking like I was for a book provide a basic introduction to SQL Server 2008 I would recommend this one. As a bonus there script which the author says can be used in production to perform backups. 5/5 Stephen Vaillancourt (MA) - See all my reviews, January 1, 2009

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  OK Overall..

  ..but let down by some poor editing, and the fact that content, pointed out as being 'online' in the book, doesnt actually exist. Not sure why they couldnt just put the articles on the CD.Also some of the 'steps' are incomplete..Google came to rescue on the odd occasion. This book needs a companion web site, with an errata list.Also the book is 500 pages (approx.) not 800 as Amazon indicates.I would probably supplement this with the 'Pro' book from Wrox. 3/5 Hemingway (Australia) - See all my reviews This review is from: Microsoft® SQL Server® 2008 Step by Step (Step by Step (Microsoft)) (Paperback) ..but let down by some poor editing, and the fact that content, pointed out as being 'online' in the book, doesnt actually exist. Not sure why they couldnt just put the articles on the CD.Also some of the 'steps' are incomplete..Google came to rescue on the odd occasion. This book needs a companion web site, with an errata list.Also the book is 500 pages (approx.) not 800 as Amazon indicates.I would probably supplement this with the 'Pro' book from Wrox. Help other customers find the most helpful reviews  Was this review helpful to you? , June 12, 2009

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  List Price: $49.99
  

  Notes: BRAND NEW FROM PUBLISHER! 100% Satisfaction Guarantee. Tracking provided on most orders. Buy with Confidence! Millions of books sold!

  ISBN13: 9780735626041

  Condition: New

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  Inside Microsoft® SQL Server® 2008: T-SQL Programming (Pro-Developer)

  Book (Microsoft Press)
  

  Rating (9 reviews):

  (5.0/5)

  

  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... 5/5 Daniel McKinnon "Dan" (Tewksbury, MA USA) - See all my reviews, April 9, 2010

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  Probably the best focused on T-SQL Programming

  I can't praise this book enough.This is one of those books that keeps you interested like a good best-selling novel because it's so well written, almost in a conversational way. The author seems pationate about the technologies being shown and he doesn't try to confuse the readers by using a vocabulary which is difficult to understand like many other technical books.Each chapter is filled with real world code examples and you can download the sample database used in the book's website. I find the examples to be satisfyingly useful and a lot of them helped me to think of better ways to optimize my code.This book also served as a wonderful reference when I was studying for my MCITP exam.To sum it all, this is probably the best book about T-SQL I've read because it's easy to understand and presents many useful techniques and explanations. It's not for the beginner though. To those I recommend the first book in the series: "T-SQL Querying" by the same... 5/5 Andre Guerreiro "byo" (Brasil) - See all my reviews Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?) This review is from: Inside Microsoft® SQL Server® 2008: T-SQL Programming (Pro-Developer) (Paperback) I can't praise this book enough.This is one of those books that keeps you interested like a good best-selling novel because it's so well written, almost in a conversational way. The author seems pationate about the technologies being shown and he doesn't try to confuse the readers by using a vocabulary which is difficult to understand like many other technical books.Each chapter is filled with real world code examples and you can download the sample database used in the book's website. I find the examples to be satisfyingly useful and a lot of them helped me to think of better ways to optimize my code.This book also served as a wonderful reference when I was studying for my MCITP exam.To sum it all, this is probably the best book about T-SQL I've read because it's easy to understand and presents many useful techniques and explanations. It's not for the beginner though. To those I recommend the first book in the series: "T-SQL Querying" by the same... Read more Help other customers find the most helpful reviews  Was this review helpful to you? , June 18, 2011

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  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... 5/5 Cecil T. Champenois Jr. "Cecil" (Rancho Cucamonga, CA, USA) - See all my reviews, October 27, 2010

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  List Price: $49.99
  

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  Microsoft SQL Server 2008 Bible

  Book (Wiley)
  

  Rating (12 reviews):

  (4.5/5)

  

  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. 4/5 Sudheer K. Maharana - See all my reviews, October 6, 2009

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  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. 5/5 Michael Wiles (Des Moines, IA USA) - See all my reviews, September 5, 2009

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  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... 5/5 Phillip Senn (Hickory, NC USA) - See all my reviews, February 4, 2010

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  List Price: $49.99
  

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  Murach's SQL Server 2008 for Developers (Murach: Training & Reference)

  Book (Mike Murach & Associates)
  

  Rating (18 reviews):

  (4.5/5)

  

  Excellent technical reference for SQL Server 2008

  After spent the past few years as developer/DBA for Oracle databases, SQL server is required during my recent projects. I find myself often spending too much time on simple issues such as how to perform a date and/or date time search. Microsoft SQL/T-SQL syntax is a little bit different from Oracle PL/SQL syntax.This book really saves me time and effort. This format of this book is like a technical how-to manual or cook book. I extremely love this kind of format because I can quickly refer to a particular issue. The topic is usually concise and easy to understand.This book is for developers not DBAs. I recommend this book for anyone who wants to learn SQL Server 2008. Of course, basic programming skills are the pre-requisites. In addition, it is very useful as an excellent technical reference book for more experienced programmers. 5/5 J. Huang "A humble programmer" (Mobile, AL USA) - See all my reviews, January 3, 2009

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  Out of Luck

  The programmed learning method, where material is taught on one side of the page and then retaught using examples on the other side of the page is used very effectively in this book. Unfortunately, the merits of the book are negated by the fact that Murach does not give the answers to the practice exercises! This is not a problem until about half way through the book where the difficulty increases and there are 2 or 3 (or more) problems in every chapter that you just can't figure out. It would be really nice to have an appendix with the answers so that you could learn how to do those problems. I contacted Murach and requested the answers. They replied that they only send the Instructors CD to teachers who have purchased at least 15 books (and they need a copy of the receipt). If you buy one of Murach's books for self-teaching, as I suspect most Amazon shoppers do, you are out of luck. This greatly reduces the effectiveness of an otherwise good approach. 1/5 TekDev "TekDev" (US) - See all my reviews Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?) This review is from: Murach's SQL Server 2008 for Developers (Murach: Training & Reference) (Paperback) The programmed learning method, where material is taught on one side of the page and then retaught using examples on the other side of the page is used very effectively in this book. Unfortunately, the merits of the book are negated by the fact that Murach does not give the answers to the practice exercises! This is not a problem until about half way through the book where the difficulty increases and there are 2 or 3 (or more) problems in every chapter that you just can't figure out. It would be really nice to have an appendix with the answers so that you could learn how to do those problems. I contacted Murach and requested the answers. They replied that they only send the Instructors CD to teachers who have purchased at least 15 books (and they need a copy of the receipt). If you buy one of Murach's books for self-teaching, as I suspect most Amazon shoppers do, you are out of luck. This greatly reduces the effectiveness of an otherwise good approach. Help other customers find the most helpful reviews  Was this review helpful to you? , February 24, 2012

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  Excellent Text and Reference

  This is one of the best technical books I have seen in a long time. Like a lot of people who have been around software development for awhile, there are areas where I am an expert and other areas that I have picked up enough on the way to just be "a little bit dangerous". SQL Server was one of the latter areas and I wanted to round out my knowledge and this book proved to be the perfect tool. Its unique "facing page" design means you can easily grasp the topic being discussed, and if it is one you are already comfortable with, just scan the code to make sure and move on quickly, or stop and read the details if needed.I also recommend that you stop and do the exercises at the end of each major chapter -- they are worth spending the time on. They are well thought out and you may very well pick something up even in those areas where you may "think you know it" (I know I did).Finally, the layout of the book and a detailed index means that this will be a... 5/5 M. Almond (Spokane, WA USA) - See all my reviews, December 1, 2009

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  List Price: $52.50
  

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  Microsoft SQL Server 2008 R2 Unleashed

  eBooks (Sams)
  

  Rating (21 reviews):

  (4.6/5)

  

  Useful technical reference for SQL DBA

  Microsoft keeps adding new functionality to SQL server so the latest version, SQL 2008 R2, has become vastly complex. So much so that Microsoft has divided up their DBA certifications into three specializations: core DBA and developer and BI. Correspondingly, technical books on SQL 2008 tend to be divided up along the same lines. Thus I would have thought it would be impossible to cover the whole in a single book. But this book attempts to do just that. And it does a pretty good job, in my opinion. Of course it cannot go into great depth on any one subject, but it goes into enough depth to be useful to a practicing DBA in any of the three categories.They manage it by making the book huge. So huge that, apparently, it can't all be printed in a single book. So when you buy the book, you get a book that is around 1700 pages (1550 pages of text and about 100 pages of index and 50 of front material) and in the back of the book is a CD that contains another 800 or so pages in... 5/5 charles pyle - See all my reviews This review is from: Microsoft SQL Server 2008 R2 Unleashed (Paperback) Microsoft keeps adding new functionality to SQL server so the latest version, SQL 2008 R2, has become vastly complex. So much so that Microsoft has divided up their DBA certifications into three specializations: core DBA and developer and BI. Correspondingly, technical books on SQL 2008 tend to be divided up along the same lines. Thus I would have thought it would be impossible to cover the whole in a single book. But this book attempts to do just that. And it does a pretty good job, in my opinion. Of course it cannot go into great depth on any one subject, but it goes into enough depth to be useful to a practicing DBA in any of the three categories.They manage it by making the book huge. So huge that, apparently, it can't all be printed in a single book. So when you buy the book, you get a book that is around 1700 pages (1550 pages of text and about 100 pages of index and 50 of front material) and in the back of the book is a CD that contains another 800 or so pages in... Read more Help other customers find the most helpful reviews  Was this review helpful to you? , November 28, 2010

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  Very poor QA process...

  To be honest, I have never seen such a poor QA process for a book. The chapter I was most interested in has numerous errors in it. Let me explain...This book comes with a CD containing another ~800 pages of supplemental chapters. Chapter 52, in PDF format on the CD, contains info on SQL Server Integration Services (SSIS). However, the CD's Chapter 52 code samples aren't for PDF Chapter 52--they're under the Chapter 46 folder. The "Chapter46_AllCodeExamples.sql" file has the correct code... For the first exercise in the chapter, if you paste the right code into the export query window & click "Parse" (like it says to do in the book), you'll get an error that says "Incorrect syntax near '`'." Unless you're already a SQL guru that knows the authors accidentally used the Unicode "open single quote" character as opposed to the standard ASCII apostrophe, you'll be lost. Once you fix that problem and click "Parse" again, you'll get the following 3 errors... 2/5 1PBFOOT "1PBFOOT" (Chicago, IL) - See all my reviews Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?) This review is from: Microsoft SQL Server 2008 R2 Unleashed (Paperback) To be honest, I have never seen such a poor QA process for a book. The chapter I was most interested in has numerous errors in it. Let me explain...This book comes with a CD containing another ~800 pages of supplemental chapters. Chapter 52, in PDF format on the CD, contains info on SQL Server Integration Services (SSIS). However, the CD's Chapter 52 code samples aren't for PDF Chapter 52--they're under the Chapter 46 folder. The "Chapter46_AllCodeExamples.sql" file has the correct code... For the first exercise in the chapter, if you paste the right code into the export query window & click "Parse" (like it says to do in the book), you'll get an error that says "Incorrect syntax near '`'." Unless you're already a SQL guru that knows the authors accidentally used the Unicode "open single quote" character as opposed to the standard ASCII apostrophe, you'll be lost. Once you fix that problem and click "Parse" again, you'll get the following 3 errors... Read more Help other customers find the most helpful reviews  Was this review helpful to you? , January 29, 2011

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  A case where the Kindle book beats print?

  I purchased the Kindle edition and am pleased to report that it does contain all 56 chapters, so no need to download "part 2" of the book as a pdf. The graphics are in colour and in all cases the text in screen-dumps is readable (if fuzzy). The index uses a notation like "CD:2331" when referring to pages that are on the pdf included with the print edition. Thankfully these links take you to the correct location in the Kindle book.The content is wide ranging but don't expect miracles in what is now a huge platform. For example Master Data Services gets only a short overview. Overall the book is very good value. 4/5 Lance M. Andrewes "lancenz" (Wellington, New Zealand) - See all my reviews, May 14, 2011

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  List Price: $47.99
  

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  MCTS Self-Paced Training Kit (Exam 70-432): Microsoft® SQL Server® 2008 Implementation and Maintenance (Pro-Certification)

  Book (Microsoft Press)
  

  Rating (49 reviews):

  (2.6/5)

  

  Far Inferior to SQL 2005 70-431 Equivalent Text

  The Microsoft Training Kit text for SQL Server 2005 exam 70-431 (for which Hotek was a contributor, but not primary author) is one of the best technical books I have ever come across. I have read every page at least twice, some sections several times. It covers a wealth of complex material in an organized, well-written manner. I hoped the SQL 2008 version would be an update of the SQL 2005 text, adding coverage for new or updated SQL 2008 features.Alas, the SQL 2008 edition has been completely rewritten, with Hotek as the only author. I have read the first 100 pages and intend to read the entire text, but am not happy. The content is poorly organized, poorly edited and flat-out incorrect on some important points. (Errors regarding multiple instances were commented on by earlier reviewers. This error was not just stated once, but was repeated.) In more than one end-of-section mini-quiz, the questions are for material not covered in that section.Hotek... 2/5 Clyde LeBonz (PORTLAND, OR United States) - See all my reviews Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?) This review is from: MCTS Self-Paced Training Kit (Exam 70-432): Microsoft® SQL Server® 2008 Implementation and Maintenance (Pro-Certification) (Hardcover) The Microsoft Training Kit text for SQL Server 2005 exam 70-431 (for which Hotek was a contributor, but not primary author) is one of the best technical books I have ever come across. I have read every page at least twice, some sections several times. It covers a wealth of complex material in an organized, well-written manner. I hoped the SQL 2008 version would be an update of the SQL 2005 text, adding coverage for new or updated SQL 2008 features.Alas, the SQL 2008 edition has been completely rewritten, with Hotek as the only author. I have read the first 100 pages and intend to read the entire text, but am not happy. The content is poorly organized, poorly edited and flat-out incorrect on some important points. (Errors regarding multiple instances were commented on by earlier reviewers. This error was not just stated once, but was repeated.) In more than one end-of-section mini-quiz, the questions are for material not covered in that section.Hotek... Read more Help other customers find the most helpful reviews  Was this review helpful to you? , March 19, 2009

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  This book is better than they say!!!

  I must say I was concerned about this book given the other comments - the only value appeared to be in the CD with the practice exams (the other recommended book "The Real MCTS SQL Server 2008 Exam 70-432" does not include practice exams). So I went ahead and purchased both books - "The Real MCTS..." for studying and this book for the Practice Exams.What I discovered is that "The Real MCTS..." does not go into enough depth in a number of areas. Reading through the book and doing the exercises left me inadequately prepared. Running through the practice exams showed that I still had quite a bit to learn in some of the new/enhanced technologies (certificates/encryption, mirroring, partitioning). I have started going back to Mike Hotek's book - and have found (to my surprise given the negative comments) the information, explanations & exercises a great sight better than in The Real MCTS book.Do not let the other reviews put you off. Even with the mistakes this... 4/5 Tim Sutton - See all my reviews, August 9, 2009

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  Thin on actual content

  Exam candidates using this book will quickly find it suffers from actual lack of technical content. Mike Hotek would have been better of spending less time talking about his experience and conquests over problems and more time giving actual examples of T-SQL that you can use against your own data. Also the sample questions do not cover nearly enough breadth of the chapter content, you get 1 or 2 summary questions per section, when there are lots of examinable facts just glossed over in the text. If you want to be able to wrote learn stuff its a very poor resource. You have to take the book and then get resources of the web, and real exams in order to fill up on the required content. Not recommended. 1/5 R. Lockhart "sqlfan" (Oz) - See all my reviews, May 26, 2009

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  List Price: $69.99
  

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• 

  Professional SQL Server 2008 Internals and Troubleshooting

  Book (Wrox)
  

  Rating (15 reviews):

  (4.9/5)

  

  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... 5/5 Pinalkumar Dave "Pinal Dave" (SQLAuthority) - See all my reviews This review is from: Professional SQL Server 2008 Internals and Troubleshooting (Paperback) 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... Read more Help other customers find the most helpful reviews  Was this review helpful to you? , March 9, 2010

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  Excellent

  I read this book about couple to times to understand all the concepts. Very-very nice book with many new concepts consolidated at one place. Also, remember to read chapter 16 that is on the web. 5/5 R. Pathak - See all my reviews, January 25, 2011

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  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. 5/5 John W. Walker - See all my reviews, September 27, 2010

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  List Price: $59.99
  

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• 

  Inside Microsoft® SQL Server® 2008: T-SQL Querying

  Book (Microsoft Press)
  

  Rating (13 reviews):

  (4.6/5)

  

  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... 3/5 Jose A. Campo "SQL DBA [MCTS on SQL2005 & 2008]" (Houston, TX) - See all my reviews, February 27, 2010

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  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 Modelare 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 MesaSQL Server MVP 5/5 Alejandro Mesa (Lake Wylie, SC USA) - See all my reviews, July 19, 2009

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  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. 5/5 K. Goodhew (Boulder, CO USA) - See all my reviews, August 23, 2009

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  List Price: $49.99
  

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