Rating: 
Summary: Deep coverage of lots of subjects
Review: Henderson is a modern-day polymath -- a person who's mastered many subjects. When you run into someone who purports to know something about a lot of different topics, usually they don't have much depth, the classic "jack of all trades and master of none." That's obviously not the case with this author. This book covers one topic after another in astonishing detail. The version control chapter is a must-read even for non-SQL Server people. Programmers in general should read it. Ditto for the design patterns chapter -- it's great stuff. The xprocs chapter, the database design chapter -- each of these is a distinctly different area within SQL Server and database technology. Not just any author could have pulled this off with such depth.My favorite example of this is the coverage of .NET. No one but a programmer who'd been there and back could have explained all the reasons we need the .NET Framework. No one except a programmer who'd built complex applications the "hard" way would be able to set the stage for the .NET Framework being embedded in SQL Server the way Henderson has. You get the sense that you're talking to THE MAN insofar as what the Framework will do for software deveopment. It's unusual to find this kind of insight anywhere, let alone in a database book. Henderson is my new all-time favorite technical author. I have his other T-SQL book and one of his C++ books. He's the best of the best.
Rating:
Summary: A programmer's book
Review: This book is just what a programmer would want. No fluff, just the deep technical stuff. I loved the coverage of design patterns, the chapter on version control and source code management with tsql and query analyzer. The essays at the end of the book are the best I've seen in a technical book. Henderson should look into doing a novel. Bottom line - great technical info and great writing = a book that's hard to beat.
Rating: 
Summary: Great book for sproc ...has nothing to do with .NET
Review: The book is superb in explaining stored procedures and triggers. However, it has nothing to do wiht .NET. If you want to learn how to call stored procedures from .NET, then you definitely don't want to buy this book.
Rating:
Summary: Tremendous resource
Review: There is no better resource on the planet for learning stored procedure development in T-sql. None. As Ron Soukup says in the Foreword, the book is written by a veteran programmer for other programmers. If you write T-sql for living, Henderson speaks your language. You'll learn how to build production quality code in T-sql, and you'll learn how the pros do it. And on top of that, you'll get several chapters of SQLXML, HTML, and .NET thrown in for good measure. I can't say enough good things about this book. Definitely worth your money.
Rating:
Summary: Great teaching from a master
Review: The thing I like about this book is how useful it is as a teaching aid. I've been using it in the database classes I teach here in the bay area, and I never cease to be amazed at what great resource it is for initiating new developers to SQL Server stored procedure programming. Together with Henderson's other book, The Guru's Guide to Transact-SQL, I can't think of a better resource for learning to code Transact-SQL stored procedures. You get a motherloade of technical info delivered by a master programmer. There are 700+ code samples interlaced with excellent explanations and narrative. All in all, this is the best $$ I've ever spent on a database book, bar none.
Rating: 
Summary: Not for teaching
Review: I showed this to my students and it scared the s**t out of them. An extremely counter-productive experience!
Rating:
Summary: Great Book!!
Review: This book has many many helpful tips and tricks for using t-sql. If you're like me and wanted to get the most out of sql server 2000's XML capabilities, it's all here, plus more. This book will be your first reference every time you have a quandry, guarenteed!
Rating:
Summary: A masterful book written by a master coder
Review: Words can't begin to express what this book has meant to me. I am a developer who came to Sql Server late in life after a career writing COBOL, then DBase/Clipper, then FoxPro. I've watched the industry change, but have never really had the handle on all of it that this guy does. The book is ingenious. It takes Transact-Sql and gives it the hardcore language treatment. No one has ever done that before. I have all the other T-Sql books and, with the exception of Henderson's previous book, none come close to this one. You take Henderson's two Sql Server books and you have all you need to master Sql Server's programming language, Transact-Sql. Who talks about version control with Transact-Sql? Henderson does. Who gets into design patterns in stored procedures? Henderson does. Who discusses testing at length in an Sql book? Henderson does. Who shows how to add useful features to the language such as native array handling? Henderson does. Who would dare discuss how .NET relates to T-Sql development? Henderson does. Who talks about how eXtreme Programming applies to T-Sql developers? You know the answer. This is THE book to have if you want to master the T-Sql language.
Rating:
Summary: Information, tips and knowledge
Review: This is one of the few books that explore T-SQL. As a DBA I am always looking for a better, easier way to write code. This book is full of code examples and new ways to look at the material.
I hope that Ken continues writing his series. The next version of SQL Server will allow other languages in the queries. That should be a major change for us.
Rating:
Summary: The Jeff Richter of database books
Review: This book has it all. It has everything you need to understand stored proc and xproc development, xml, sqlxml and .net in one volume. The best parts are: - version control from Query Analyzer
- design patterns and idioms
- all the sqlxml chapters
- the .net chapter
- the essays on software craftsmanship Henderson writes in a style that is direct without being condescending or confrontational. He tells it like it is and never cuts any corners. The book is absolutely loaded with code - over 700 code samples are on the CD. If you want to learn at the feet of the Sql Svr stored proc guru, look no further - this is your book.
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