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Summary: Rawk
Review: I own both books by Ken Henderson.Simply put, he's the best. I'd buy any book he writes.
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Summary: One of the best programming books I have ever read
Review: This is the first SQL Server book that I can call a "real" programming book. It's not surprising that it comes from Addison-Wesley, the most prominent publisher of such books. In the spirit of Kernighan and Ritchie, Pike, Thomas and Hunt, Jon Bentley, and Erich Gamma, this is a thinker's Transact-SQL programming book. It begins with a wonderful overview of all that is worth knowing about stored procedure programming in Transact-SQL. This is the best "in a nutshell" discussion I've seen of stored procedure programming. It is better than most whole books dedicated to the subject. It moves on to coding conventions and source code management, two oft-neglected topics in the world of SQL Server. For some reason, most of us don't usually treat Transact-SQL as though it were true source code, but Henderson makes the compelling case that it is indeed, and he has convinced me. Next, is one of the crown jewels of the book: design patterns. For anyone who has read any of the patterns books out there (e.g., Erich Gamma, John V., etc.), this will seem like an epiphany. You'll go, "Of course! Why didn't I think of that?!" From here, we move on to database design. This is the best hands-on, practical guide to database design that I've ever seen. Henderson distills, in one chapter, all that you need to know to build complex business models, entity-relationship diagrams, and relational data models. What I like most about this is that Henderson doesn't start with physical modeling. He starts with the business processes the app that will use the database must encompass, then shows how to extrapolate business process flow charts, E-R diagrams, logical data models, and, finally physical data models. You start with nothing but an application concept and end up with a fully-functional SQL Server database. If you ever wanted to learn database modeling and design from the ground-up, this is your chance. Next, is the objects section. Here, individual chapters cover Views (normal, partitioned and indexed), UDFs (lots of great code here including how to create your own system and vector functions -- e.g., MEDIAN()), triggers (normal, instead of, auditing), and error handling. Transact-SQL error handling is an oft-misunderstood area of the language. Henderson shines a light on it and shares what the masters know. The SQLXML section is the second crown jewel of the book. When I saw that Henderson was covering SQLXML in his new book, I guess I should have guessed he would cut no corners, but, honestly, this section by itself is better than every other SQLXML book I've read. That's right - this one section of the book is better than other whole books dedicated to the subject. The introduction to XML is as good a synopsis of the language as you will find. The chapters covering the individual SQLXML features are also better than I've seen elsewhere. In true Henderson tradition, they are readable, in-depth, and thorougly engaging. The advanced section is exactly that: advanced. Want to learn about how SQL Server interfaces with COM? Look no further -- the chapter even includes a nice, concise introduction to COM itself for those new to it. Want to learn to build extended procs? Look no further. This chapter alone is worth the whole cost of the book. I guess I shouldn't be surprised by now, but it's as in-depth as they come. I'm not even a C++ coder, but I worked through the examples and successfully built my first extended proc. And I have to commend Henderson on the performance chapter. It's the best I've seen on the subject. It's far clearer and in-depth than what you find in Inside SQL Server 2000, for example. The arrays chapter is the third crown jewel of the book. The technique of using extended procs and UDFs to add array support to the T-SQL language is ingenius. I'll bet Henderson could sell this code commercially if he wanted. And the final crown jewel is the set of essays at the end of the book. What clear, lucid, lively, enjoyable prose. Henderson is one of the great technical writers of our generation. He spreads his wings a bit in these chapters and shows just what a great wordsmith he really is. Regardless of whether you're talking technical or nontechnical books, fiction or nonfiction, you will not find better writing than this. I think he should consider branching out into other kinds of writing because he obviously has the ability. In sum: this book elevates Transact-SQL to the plateau of "real" languages such as Java, Pascal, and C++. It is the first "thinker's" coding book I've seen for Transact-SQL stored procedure development and among the best programming books I've ever read. It is a worthy successor to "The Guru's Guide to Transact-SQL."
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Summary: Get your XML here!
Review: This book was all I could have asked for. I have been wanting to learn about XML in SQL Server for a long time. I read the Books Online, but just couldn't really get it. I mean I could write the code and I could play with OPENXML, but I didn't really *understand* what I was doing. This book changed all that. Now it all makes sense. Unlike a lot of other books, it doesn't repeat the online docs. It starts where the Books Online ends. And the sample code is really useful. The book says there are over 700 example files and I don't doubt it! The sheer number and the quality of the samples makes the book worth the price all by itself.
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Summary: Henderson finds his voice
Review: I have several of Henderson's other books but this is by far the best. He has finally found his voice. Instead of the stilted, techno-babble most technical books serve up, Henderson's prose flows like a country river. It educates and inspires without putting you to sleep. This book shows that Henderson is a great writer in his own right and that he knows now to tell a story. The thing that's truly amazing about the book is that Henderson manages to stretch a bit as a writer while still delivering a motherloade of technical content. There are over 700 code samples on the CD! That's the most I've ever seen in a technical book, even the boring cookbooks! Henderson began writing for himself more with the first Guru's Guide book and this one continues in that fine tradition. I thought the first GG book was witty and well-written, but this one is even better. Thank you, Ken, for writing such a masterpiece. You are an inspiration to us all. Char Baxter
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Summary: THE book to get on SQL Server XML
Review: When I heard that Ken had written a book on XML for SQL Server, I knew I had to have it. I ordered it the day it came out and I have been tearing through it since. I had the first Guru's Guide book and I knew if he did for SQL XML what he did for TSQL, it would have to be one fine book. I was not disappointed. There is chapter after chapter of great coverage of the XML features in SQL Server. Ken starts with the basics and ramps you up to the most advanced topics on the subject. If you are one of those TSQL programmers who wants to know what all this XML stuff is about, you have found your book. I am confident that anyone who reads this book will agree with me that it is the best book on SQL Server XML in print.
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Summary: Run, don't walk, and get this book
Review: There are very few computer books that will change you life like this one. If you program in Transact-SQL (and probably even if you don't) this book will change the way you think about creating software. Written by a guru who's obviously spent many years in the trenches, this book is a must-have for anyone serious about mastering SQL Server stored procedure programming, SQLXML, and HTML as it's implemented by SQL Server. There is no stone left unturned here. The book covers everything from stored procedure basics, to the nitty-gritty details of building extended procedures, to COM, .NET, and XML. I can't say enough about what a great book it is. It's my new favorite computer tome.
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Summary: Should add "Extended Procedures" to the title
Review: In addition to the topics mentioned in the title, this book is the ultimate Extended Procedure reference. It shows you how to write them, how to utilize them in your own code, how to debug them, and how to make them handier to use. For example, there's a chapter showing how to build your own Extended Procedures from A-Z. It takes you through building several useful EPs. Want to know how to take control of SQL Server execution threads so that you can speed up your code? This book shows how to write an Extended Procedure that does just that. The book also shows you how to use EPs in user defined functions to basically do whatever you want. One of the example EPs is xp_exec which is basically an Extended Procedure version of EXEC(). Given that you can't call EXEC() from a user defined function this is really handy. You can execute any code you want. Another useful set of Extended Procedures the book shows you how to build has to do with arrays. Given that Transact-SQL doesn't have arrays, the book shows you how to build a set of Extended Procedures and user defined functions to add arrays to the language. You learn to build xp_createarray which is called by fn_createarray, xp_setarray which is call by fn_setarray, and so forth. Basically, you get arrays that look and feel like they're built into Transact-SQL by virtue of the ingenious use of Extended Procedures and user defined functions together to hide the details. They're speedy and handy to use. If you ever wanted to know how to build Extended Procedures, this is your book. In addition to all the other great info in the book, this alone makes it worth the price. In fact I would have paid twice what I did for it. Its that good.
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Summary: You will not find a better SQLXML book
Review: When I ordered this one, I didn't know what to expect in terms of SQLXML coverage. I mean, for all I knew there might just be enough about SQLXML in the book to help sell the book. Fortunately, that wasn't the case. This is the best, most thorough coverage of SQLXML I've seen. It even covers Web Release 1 (which was apparently still being beta tested when it was written). The SQLXML chapters start with an intro to XML itself and a tour through all its basic syntax. I've never seen a better, more concise, easier to read "getting started" tutorial on XML. It's better than that found in many books dedicated to XML. I felt right at home in the language in just a few minutes. Next, the book tours OPENXML(), URL queries, updategrams, XML bulk load, FOR XML, and the various other elements of SQLXML separately. The examples are thorough and well thought out. If you can read, you can follow this material. And when you get done, you'll know a heck of a lot more about SQLXML than when you started. I was concerned that a book that also covered stored procedures and HTML might slight on the XML coverage, but the opposite is true. The coverage of the other topics in the book provides a solid foundation for the SQLXML. It all inter-relates. This is one fine piece of work. Henderson has done it again. Buy this book if you want to know SQLXML like the gurus do.
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Summary: Excellent on some topics, unfocused overall
Review: There is a lot to like in this book. The chapter on database design is fantastic. The chapter on views is excellent as well. But overall the book veering off topic now and again, which adds to it's girth (760 pages.)
The book starts with a very solid introduction to stored procedures. As I say, the database design portion of the first part is probably worth the price of admission on it's own.
Part two is titled objects, which is a little deceptive since the chapter mainly covers functions, triggers, stored procedures and other structural elements.
Part three is where the book gets into XML and HTML. There is some introductory material on XML and XSL which is too brief to be a complete introduction for someone. That material is better presented in other books. But the material on XML queries direct to the SQL server is unique and valuable.
Part four on advanced topics has some good chapters. In particular the section on query optimization is well done and serves as a good introduction to the topic. But this part is where the book veers off course and into topics like testing, refactoring, XP, and an introduction to the .NET framework and C#. It's all interesting, but it's covered better in other books and the book overall could be shorter and more focused were it not for these sections.
Another downside is that Illustrations are a little underused. But the downsides aside, this is a great book, specifically for the first two parts including the excellent section on database design.
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Summary: The only SQL book I regularly use
Review: I have a lot of different SQL books. This is the only one I regularly turn to. It is chalk full of useful info, and you should read if you want to program professionally with Sql Server.
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