Professional SQL Server 2000 Programming

Rating:
Summary: Good book, wrong title
Review: I really enjoyed this book, but I feel that it should have been titled "Professional SQL Server 2000 DBA". This is not a book on Transact SQL programming, though there is some discussion of T-SQL in there. For T-SQL, a better reference would be Ken Henderson's "Guru" book.

Still, I felt that the book made me a better DBA, and that's important too. This book is a good introduction to lots of things, like DTS, that will in turn lead you to reading other, more advanced books. So if you are new to SQL Server, this is a good place to start.

Rating:
Summary: From Nigeria with Love!!!
Review: I am presently reading your book on Professional SQL Server 2000 programming by Robert Vieira. It is the best book on SQL Server 2000. I have always shown indifference to SQL and those batabase stuffs but, I decided to read the book for 2 reasons:

I have read other Wrox publications such as

"Beginning Visual C++ 6", "Beginning Java2", "Professional J2EE programming", and I found that they were a complete and a super references.

Secondly, I was captivated by the glossy picture of the author on the backcover.Every time I see the backcover I get energized to stay on and on o...n. I am so confident I be will be a professional like Robert after I might have gone through the book. I am almost through with it and you can only imagine how pleased I am with my-self

I enjoy the book so much that I cant do without it. It's was a very wonderful Valentine's day I had with the book . Oh! I love the book for real, despite the fact that it costs soo much to get over it to my country, Nigeria.

Rob, your book really robbed me of my time for other schedules, but rejoice, I won't call the police because I love it...

Rating:
Summary: Great Book !!
Review: This is really a great book on SQL Server 2000, with a lot of information, techniques, example that show a great subject's knowledge.

Rating:
Summary: Passed the MS Cert exam (229) with this book
Review: I just read this book cover-to-cover over the last month to prepare for MS Cert exam 229 on SQL Server 2000. I passed fairly easily too. It's a great introduction to all features of SS2K, which was great for me as I hadn't done more than querying and database/table designs. It reads more like a novel than a dense reference book, but I think that keeps it interesting for those of us with short attention spans. If you're also getting it for the exam, just make sure to take notes on all the "little things" and study enough to really learn the material.

Rating:
Summary: Save your money, and time..
Review: If you are looking for a Transact-SQL reference book this is NOT it. Perhaps it was my fault in buying a book based on the title "SQL Server 2000 Programming". I thought what I was getting was comprehensive text book with a lot of tricks and tips, and examples of how to program in SQL Server 2000. What was I thinking? I wish I had a nickel for every time I have looked the index for a certain topic, only to find it wasn't there. In a 1389 page book about SQL Server programming, you would expect to find a reference to 'SET ROWCOUNT' somewhere it in. Well, guess what, it isn't there, at least not in the index. This is only one of many examples. I have yet to find any useful information in this book, yet its packed with verbiage. So I can only conclude it was written for someone else, and mis-titled. Wrox has dropped the ball with this book. Save your money, and don't waste your time with this one.

Rating:
Summary: The best
Review: This is probably the best book about SQL Server development I ever saw.

I devored this book. The author can really pass you his ideas, and he does not limit on teaching you SQL, but he also give you design tips, best practices and more.

This book in conjunction with Kalen Delaney's Inside Microsoft SQL Server 2000 are just what you need to develop great SQL Server applications.

Rating:
Summary: I also passed MCP exam 70-229 with this book.
Review: This book is great if you want to learn how USE SQL Server 2000. Be prepared to read, though. It's not really meant to be a reference. If you don't like to read, you'll hate it. (I use it as a reference, but only because I've read it cover to cover and I know where to look for answers). This book was really all I needed to pass the MCP exam. When I took the exam, I was right out of college with no IT experience other than computer science coursework. I think that says a lot about this book (I'm not sure what that says about the MCP exam).

Here are some things to remember about SQL Server 2000:
1) Your best REFERENCE manual is Books Online... hands down.
Another reviewer complained that if, for example, you wanted to
find out the order of the arguments for a SQL Server function, this book does not allow you to do that quickly. That's true, but so what... use Books Online.

2) Your best bet for learning SQL Server 2000 as a whole is to
read this book cover to cover.

3) Don't expect to learn advanced topics from a book that provides an overview (like this one). If you want to learn DTS, buy a book on DTS... same with XML... same with WMI.

Also in this book is a great chapter on Stored Procedures and examples of how to most effectively use what little error handling options you have in T-SQL.

Rating:
Summary: Great for beginners
Review: Whenever I read reviews on this site, I inevitably start with the lowest first, because I like to see criticisms. Call me strange. I did the same with this book, and although I feel some of the low ratings were justified, I also would like to defend this book to some degree.

If you are a beginner, this book is great. YES, the author does spend a lot of time making little jokes here and there (which are usually humorous enough to make you chuckle) and YES the author's wording is chit chatty, but some people like that and find it makes for a more enjoyable read.

If you want it to be extremely terse, don't buy this book and save yourself the disappointment. If you want a read that will give you the basics in a way that is friendly, this is a good book, though you will not be likely to want to use it as a reference after that point, since the book does not provide you with things such as the correct syntax for any number of very useful T-SQL functions.

I do think that the word "Professional" in the book's title may be a bit misleading, I think if it was replaced with the word "Beginning" instead, there would be fewer bad reviews for this book. In general, when people buy a book for which small amount of research would have proven it to be less-than ideal for their particular needs, they tend to blame the book rather than themselves. "Don't judge a book by its cover" is a caveat that holds true here. "Professional?!" Maybe not. But good? Yes, if you are in the beginner to intermediate group. And besides, just who fits the labels 'beginner' and 'intermediate' is open to discussion . . .

Rating:
Summary: Excellent study guide for the 70-229 test
Review: I used this book and Thearon Willis' "Beginning SQL Server 2000 for VB Developers" (also from WROX) to study for the Designing and Implementing Databases using Microsoft SQL Server 2000 (70-229) test. Robert Vieira definitely knows SQL Server. I also have his Professional SQL Server 7.0 Programming book. I have read his 2 books religiously from cover-to-cover.

The first 12 chapters of this book provide a solid foundation in SQL Server 2000 but Vieira augments those chapters with some advanced thinking. Chapter 12 - Stored Procedures is probably the heart of the book and this chapter is one of the best in the book. I have read this chapter several times and learned something new every time.

Chapter 13 through Chapter 18 contain advanced SQL Server 2000 features and Vieira does an outstanding job explaining them. I found a lot of questions on the exam came from those chapters.

Chapters 19 and 20 are concerned XML and how this technology is constantly changing. The author does an outstanding job of explaining XML.

The chapters toward the end of the book are concerned with advanced features that an administrator might need to know but the knowledge is helpful in my employment and I use DTS almost every other day. In order to comprehend SQL Server 2000, these chapters should definitely be read. That would have been impossible without Chapters 21 through 31. This book rates as a 5-star in my book and I highly recommend this to any serious SQL Server developer and/or administrator. I will also be using this book for the 70-228 exam.

Rating:
Summary: Great Book
Review: I knew nothing about SQL Server 2000 before picking up this book. It took me from knowing nothing to knowing quite a bit. The author has a relaxed writing style which made it easier for me to learn this subject.

I looked at a lot of SQL Server 2000 books and at least from my perspective, this is the one to own. 1350 pages of great information makes it well worth the money. Get it!