| | |  | Software Engineering | Home » » » Beginning SQL Server 2008 for Developers: From Novice to Professional (Expert's Voice in SQL Server) | | | | | | | Product Promotions: | | | | | Description: | | SQL Server 2008 is a first–rate database management system. It offers more capability than any previous release of SQL Server. More than just a classic relational database management system, SQL Server 2008 includes exciting and powerful features that make it useful for everything from large corporate data warehouses to ad hoc departmental databases. You’ll find enhanced support for XML, new support for spatial data, transparent data encryption, a policy–based management system, and more. Author and developer Robin Dewson will show you the way from beginner to SQL Server 2008 professional. Learn to install SQL Server 2008 and navigate around Management Studio before getting right to the heart of mastering fundamental SQL Server 2008 tasks: creating tables, storing data, securing data, and retrieving it again. Dewson ensures you’ll be fully prepared to use all the basics and create a solid foundation for your own projects. Don’t forget about backups! Your database will house important data, so backing up is essential to protect yourself from inevitable hardware failure. Dewson walks you through SQL Server 2008’s easy–to–use backup and recovery feature set, giving you the grounding that you need in order to set up a reliable plan for recovery in your own environment. Learn to use Transact–SQL, a full–blown procedural language that is built right into the database system. Transact–SQL is the key to unlocking everything that SQL Server 2008 has to offer. Using Transact–SQL, you can write centrally encapsulated business logic through the use of stored procedures, automatically trigger processing through the use of triggers, and manipulate data within the server without having to move data back and forth across the network. Finally, you’ll learn a bit about SQL Server 2008 Reporting Services, a powerful tool that allows enterprise reporting. Reporting Services enables you to develop and serve reports across your organization and even to business partners outside your company. Reporting Services also gives end users the ability to create their own reports, helping them transform business data into valuable, usable information to guide their day–to–day decisions. What you’ll learn - Install and manage SQL Server on your system
- Create and secure tables
- Store and query data; use indexes to improve query performance
- “Sleep when the wind blows,” because you have a solid backup and recovery process
- Run procedural code inside your database in the form of Transact–SQL procedures and triggers
- Serve up business reports to in–house users and outside business partners via SQL Server 2008 Reporting Services
Who this book is for Developers new to SQL Server 2008. If you are just beginning to develop software using SQL Server 2008, or if you are planning to do so in the near future, this book will set you on the road to success. | | | Product Details: | | | Author:
| Robin Dewson | | Paperback:
| 496 pages | | Publisher:
| Apress | | Publication Date:
| July 25, 2008 | | Language:
| English | | ISBN:
| 1590599586 | | Product Length:
| 9.2 inches | | Product Width:
| 7.0 inches | | Product Height:
| 1.1 inches | | Product Weight:
| 1.85 pounds | | Package Length:
| 9.2 inches | | Package Width:
| 7.5 inches | | Package Height:
| 1.2 inches | | Package Weight:
| 1.8 pounds | | Average Customer Rating:
|  based on 12 reviews |
| | | | Customer Reviews: | |
Average Customer Review:
 ( 12 customer reviews )
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
39 of 41 found the following review helpful:
 Not really for developers... but still a good introJan 14, 2009
By default_character
This book was a great introduction to MS SQL Server, but I honestly don't think it would be as helpful to new developers as it would be for new DBAs, for the following reasons:
1) No real relational database theory review
2) SQL not really introduced till over halfway through the book
3) Some terms randomly mentioned, then never explained (such
as "computed columns")
4) IIs and other pre-2008 server references
5) Cursors not mentioned... also wish there had been some text on
accessing the database via different languages.
Not all of the examples worked. I eventually figured out everything, but had a really difficult time understanding the descriptions of some of the concepts; some were too wordy and some too terse. The last chapter on Reporting Services was almost completely useless because he didn't show you how to deploy the reports... this would have been pretty easy (I found it in another book). Because of this, I can't recommend this for beginning developers either.
HOWEVER, having said all that, there are several reasons why you should get the book:
1) Covers quite a bit of material which I don't think the other texts
will, such as security, back-ups, recovery, system databases, etc.
2) Walks you through a complete installation and set-up of SQL Server.
3) Every chapter has relevant exercises, so if you have trouble getting
through the text, there is at least an example.
4) Filled with a lot of helpful "gotchas" that I could tell were
learned the hard way.
5) His writing style is friendly and unpretentious. This is a BIG plus;
I have plenty of dusty books written by 5 or more pompous people
that make no sense that are really just trying to impress you with
how smart they are instead of teaching you something.
I have finally come to the conclusion that you probably need several books on any given technical subject to overcome the shortcomings of the other. This particular book is a good one to start with, I think.
17 of 20 found the following review helpful:
 Great Reference Book for BeginnersNov 19, 2008
By Todd Haehn
I have several books on SQL Server Development and this one has been the one that has had the answers that I needed in it (as a beginner writing stored procedures and triggers). While other books that I own spend a lot of time talking about complex areas or give broad overviews, this one shows you how to do very simple things like creating conditional statement in T-SQL or checking the value of a passed parameter to see that is is not null. There is also a very nice section on setting up SQL Server 2008 that takes you through all the options and explains what they are for and offers some suggestion on how to set them. I wish I had the book before setting up SQL Server 2008.
10 of 11 found the following review helpful:
 Not for DevelopersMar 21, 2010
By Greg Klinkel
"Greg"
I have been very disappointed in this book. I am a software developer with many years of relatively lightweight knowledge of SQL. I hoped that this book would teach me a greater depth of knowledge of SQL, including how to master various types of joins, group by, having, etc.
You can imagine my surprise when I looked up the GROUP BY topic and found only one-half page of descriptive text, followed by less than a page of example. There was only a cursory discussion of this topic, which I found very disappointing.
This same disappointment has played out on every topic I have tried to explore to broaden my understanding of SQL. One would expect a book of nearly 500 pages to have some depth on fundamental topics.
I don't really know who would benefit from this book. This is clearly NOT a book for a developer such as myself, and it did not take me "from novice to professional" as I had expected.
If you are looking to broaden your understanding of SQL, look elsewhere.
2 of 2 found the following review helpful:
Seems like good content, typeface size is way too small.Aug 20, 2010
By F. Maestas
Maybe it's just me, but it looks like the font size in this book is about a 9 ?
The examples got even smaller (8 ?) and printed in a weird font that makes the text look smashed together.
Wish I could have kept it, but I'm not going to kill my eyes. The search is on for another book.
2 of 2 found the following review helpful:
Definitely a BEGINNERS bookAug 18, 2010
By R. Kell
I just got this book a few days ago, so haven't read too much of it yet. However, I thought I'd post this to help those confused as to who the target audience is, as evidenced by some of the poorer reviews. This is a book for SQL 2008 *beginners* -- make no mistake. I think the "...to Professionals" portion of the title is misleading. Here are some quotes:
From Amazon's official Product Description:
"Who is this book for? Developers new to SQL Server 2008."
It even says this is from the "Apress Beginning Series."
From the book's "Who This Book is For" section:
"This book is ideal for developers starting out with SQL Server 2008 or for those looking at becoming database administrators."
From the book's Overview section in Chapter 1:
"Welcome to Beginning SQL Server 2008 for Developers. This book has been written for those who are interested in learning how to create solutions with Microsoft SQL Server 2008, but have no prior knowledge of SQL Server 2008."
"The aim of this book is to bring you quickly up to a level at which you are developing competently with SQL Server 2008. This book is specifically dedicated to beginners and to those who at this stage wish to use only SQL Server 2008."
Bottom line, if you are already knowledgeable on SQL 2008, you are going to learn very little in this book. If you are new to the whole process, from what I can tell so far, it's a great starting point.
See all 12 customer reviews on Amazon.com
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