Rating: 
Summary: Very comprehensive
Review: Everything I need is in this book. There's much coverage on cursors, triggers, SQL syntax, everything that's needed. Sadly, there's isn't a new one that covers SQL Server 2000 yet. But believe me, when that one comes out, I'll be the first in line!
Rating: 
Summary: Extremely well written, slightly out of date
Review: I needed to quickly pick up Transact-SQL for a new job I took in early 2000. The company was using MS SQL Server 6.5 and 7.0. This book was an indepensible aid for 6.5 and helpful for 7.0. Although this book claims to be for 6.5 and 7.0, it seems to miss the important features of 7.0. Things like BULK INSERT and DTS are not covered at all, while the out-dated bcp utility is extensively analyzed.At most, there is a 5% difference between 6.5 and 7.0. Therefore, this book is an excellent refference and learning aid for both versions. I would give this book 5 stars for 6.5 and a little less than four for 7.0. That rounds to a final score of 4 stars
Rating:
Summary: Useful for 6.5
Review: Reviewers who rated this book with 1 star for not covering the latest version are rated 1/2 star for dopeyness. Ahem, do some of you guys actually skim through a book before you buy it? How about looking at the publication date? Maybe I should rate this book one star for not covering MS SQL Server 9.0 XP released in 2003? I should rail on about B also because it doesn't have the same specifications as C++. If some of you would flip through the pages of this one it's pretty clear the focus is on TSQL for 6.5 or 11.x. Duh-uh. So, how can you fault a book for covering an older system when it specifically outlines that it covers an older system? It really makes sense to go complain to the proprietor of an antique book shop that he doesn't carry the latest hardcovers, too. You can't; it doesn't, so please go fly a kite. This book was useful to me because I do encounter frequently "legacy" systems and SQL script in organizations which have no interest in upgrading every 8 months or so when Microsoft needs a cash infusion. This book was quite comprehensive and thorough within its scope of TSQL stored procedures 6.5-style, and it kind of pulled a lot of loose ends together, the way many O'Reilly publications have this habit of doing. It's a good, clear, densely-written manual and I recommend it for people who need to utilize practical ins and outs of TSQL pre-MSSQL Server 7.0 style. If you're using 7.0 or higher, there are plenty of books that may serve you better, but this one still isn't bad to learn from.
Rating:
Summary: Most of what you need
Review: As a Sybase user/programmer, I find this book to be very helpful. The one thing I find upsetting about the book is that it doesn't always make a clear distinction about whether something is for Sybase or for Microsoft. Considering the publication date of 1999, all of the people who complain that this is out-of-date are forgetting that when you write a technical book, you have to freeze things at a certain point so you can write your book. For the time they froze it (would have to have been about mid-1998), it covers nearly anything you could need regarding Sybase... which is what I needed.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent Resource
Review: I can't recommend this text to engouh T-SQL programmers (or dabblers). The content and layout make this one of my favorite SQL references. The clear descriptions of syntax make this one of the first (actual physical text) places I go when I need an explanation or some examples to refresh my memory. I feel that its an important part of any SQL reference library and I'm looking forward to a new edition in the near future.
Rating: 
Summary: Not a scintila of coverage on SQL 2000
Review: If you are wanting a modern TSQL book, this is not the one to get. There's no coverage whatever of SQL 2000. Instead, get Ken Henderson's The Guru's Guide to Transact-SQL. It's much more modern and it's examples actually work on 2000 - unlike many in this book.
Rating:
Summary: Way, way, way out of date
Review: This thing was obsolete before it was printed. It doesn't even cover 7.0, let alone SQL 2000.
Rating:
Summary: Where is the 7.0 or 2000 info?
Review: The only info on SQL 7.0 that you'll find is in an appendix. The rest of the book is full of old style techniques and examples. I was really disappointed. They're still doing stuff in this book that MS has recommended against since 6.5 shipped over four years ago. I'm sending this one back.
Rating:
Summary: Obsolete, out-of-date, out-moded, and outright bad
Review: I picked up this one thinking I could learn about SQL Server 2000. This book doesn't even cover SQL Server 7.0, let alone 2000. The code examples are all geared toward 4.2 and 6.5. Also, they use techniques that were deprecated even in 6.5 days. For example, old-style outer joins are all over the place. Many of the examples no longer work because so many things have changed in SQL Server since 6.5. Some don't work because they never did -- even on 4.2/6.5. Last, the depth of coverage is really erratic. One minute they're giving you the command line options for the bcp utility (what does this have to do with Transact-SQL?), the next minute they're glossing over something really important. A real loser of a book in my opinion.
Rating:
Summary: A better book than I thought.
Review: This is definitely NOT the book to read cover to cover. However, there is some valuable information to be gotten from this book. For instance Chapter 15. Stored Procedures was very valuable to me, Ch. 8 helped me prepare for a data migration, and I could go on and on about how specific chapters helped me get a clue about a given topic. I will admit though, a lot of this book could be considered a cure for insomnia, but if you want specific information about certain aspects of Transact-SQL, then this is a great reference tool, just don't buy it if you are not really familiar with Transact-SQL.
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