Rating: 
Summary: A poor copy of books online
Review: Anyone can copy information from other sources and put it into a book. It takes someone who really knows his or her stuff to write a book that is invaluable to the SQL programmer. I would definitely not recommend this book for the database professional.
Rating: 
Summary: Great Sybase and Microsoft SQL Server reference
Review: I've owned this book for over two years and I still go back to it as a reference. It covers Sybase SQL Server 11.5 and Microsoft SQL Server 6.5 (with limitted coverage of 7.0) so it is now a bit dated for Microsoft, but is still viable for Sybase use.I would love to see an updated version of this book for the Microsoft side. But this book is an excellent reference for determining the difference between the Transact-SQL languages in Microsoft vs. Sybase. The Microsoft and Sybase T-SQL languages were similar when this book was written, but have probably diverted even more since MS bought the license for SQL Server from Sybase. As much as I would love to see an updated version of this book, the new version would probably be more difficult to write. It's still a great reference for Transact SQL and I can't knock the book for age when it's a classic.
Rating:
Summary: A Great Door Stop!
Review: Our teacher chose this never ending phone book for the relatively simple language of SQL (not Transact SQL)! I have found FREE online tutorials that say more in one paragraph than this author can say in 700+ pages! He didn't even bother to define the variables until chapter 6! His other books on SQL may be easier to read, but if your buying a book exclusively for SQL you may want to choose any one but this one!
Rating: 
Summary: Sadly out of date
Review: Would extensive 7.0 coverage be too much too ask? I don't think so, and I don't think you will either. If you're like me, you'd come to this book expecting full coverage of the latest version of the language. Unfortunately, you won't get it -- it's not to be found between these covers. There's way too much time spent on the essoteric, and not nearly enough spent on the current version of the technology. First, they shouldn't be using old-style joins, particularly outer joins, because these can yield incorrect results. Second, they shouldn't be querying system tables directly when INFORMATION_SCHEMA views or system stored procedures will return the same info. Third, they shouldn't be delving into things like runnin bcp.exe from Transact-SQL in order to import data into the server - what a Rube Goldberg idea, especially when we have the BULK INSERT command built right into the language. Wouldn't waste my money on this if I were you.
Rating:
Summary: Buyer Beware: Book is out of date
Review: AS so many others have said, this book was out of date when it was published. Not a good sign. Computer books are by their very nature very time sensitive. This one covers virtually none of the features that were added in SQL Svr 7 and none of those added in the 2000 release. You add to this some fairly bad instructional material and you end up with a book that's out of date and not really worth having on the shelf.
Rating:
Summary: Needs updating
Review: This book is at least two releases behind the product. Books like this have to track the product, they have to stay up to date. There's no SQL Server 2000 coverage and very little 7.0 coverage (only an appendix - you can't cover the 6.5-to-7.0 differences in an appendix - too much changed!) And even the 6.5 examples are often very dated (old-style joins abound, for example). The book needs a good updating and some better proofreading. I was really disappointed in it.
Rating: 
Summary: Still A Good Reference
Review: Compared to the other T-SQL books on the market, this book makes a good reference for programmers concerned with writing compliant SQL for Microsoft and Sybase databases. Everytime I go to use this book, another developer seems to be borrowing it. That statement alone proves to me that this book is worthy of being in any technical library. Although the book is bit outdated (only goes up to Sybase 11.5), it does have a number of good examples. The book does a nice job of telling you what T-SQL statements apply to MS-SQL and Sybase-SQL. My only critique: Mr. Kline should have expanded the section on error handling.
Rating:
Summary: Out of date
Review: After all the ballyhoo on this book, I went and bought it. Frankly, I'm disappointed. Were there pages missing or did old Kevin forget about T-SQL error handling? With SQL Server 2000 on the street much of what you see here is old hat. Current books cover SQL 2000. This one doesn't. For a guy that apparently spends more times in newsgroups than he does with the product, the self-important style is inappropriate. Go and earn your stripes, Kevin.
Rating:
Summary: Out-of-date and loaded with errors
Review: I bought this book because I needed to quickly pick up Transact-SQL for a new job I recently started. I was really disappointed. The purported 7.0 coverage is nothing more than an appendix. Why do the appendix at all? Do you really think you can cover a product that is as different from 6.5 as 7.0 is in an appendix? The other stuff is annoying too. E.g., there's this focus on bcp.exe that I don't understand. Who in their right mind would call it from Transact-SQL? And why are they using old-style joins all over the place? 6.5 had ANSI joins -- why use the old syntax that MicroSoft has recommended against? And the worst part is the writing. You can definitely tell a group of guys who don't know each other well put this one together. Usually, I'm really satisfied with the Nutshell books, but not this one. I'm sending it back for a refund.
Rating: 
Summary: Great book, but needs updating
Review: Excellent guide to T-SQL and MS SQL Server 6.5. But the changes in SQL 7 and 2000 are great enough that it is too out of date to recommend. I'll be first in line to buy the SQL 2002 version, if it ever comes!
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