Rating: 
Summary: An Oracle DBA thinks with book is just OK
Review: Another SQL Server book that spends WAY too much time with programming topics. DBAs using SQL Server seem to do more programming than Oracle DBAs. But, that is after the DB is setup, etc. I was hoping for a 'here is how you create a DB and then we do this, then this, etc.' Again, a large part of the book is programming and other topics.Many Oracle DBAs want to be at least OK with SQL Server topics. We want to be able to work the setup and monitoring programs, help people with basic problems and then move on to tuning. This book is just not the perfect book for that.
Rating: 
Summary: Not for a *complete* beginner, need some DB experience
Review: Definitely not for the complete beginner. If you have an idea about what a database is and what you want out of your database then this is a great book. My experience with databases is fairly minimal, but I had some experience prior to reading this book because I built a web application that used Access on the back end. I understood database structure and had a context to read the book, so when I would read about something I would think to myself how I could use that information. Without this frame of reference, I would have been lost and this book would have been abysmal. That said, for me this book was an excellent read. I LOVED this book. I found no significant errors in the book (a small typo here or there). I used it to prepare for the Microsoft class on Desiging and Imlementing a Database Design using SQL Server 2000. I am a network engineer by trade and was afraid that I would be left behind in this class, so I needed to get up to speed quickly. This book provided huge amounts of clear and concise information to me in a very short time, and in the class I was probably the most knowledgeable student (not bad for a network engineer in a room full of DBAs and web programmers). In fact, there were multiple occasions where the information I learned in this book let me answer questions in the class that the instructor could not, and I also pointed out several instances where my instructor was just plain wrong. In summary, if you have some sort of database experience using a different product, this will get you up to speed very quickly on the vast majority of the aspects of SQL Server 2000. I commend the author on his writing style. I would have given it 5 stars if the audience for the book was more clearly defined by the title or the back page.
Rating:
Summary: Not for a *complete* beginner, need some DB experience
Review: Definitely not for the complete beginner. If you have an idea about what a database is and what you want out of your database then this is a great book. My experience with databases is fairly minimal, but I had some experience prior to reading this book because I built a web application that used Access on the back end. I understood database structure and had a context to read the book, so when I would read about something I would think to myself how I could use that information. Without this frame of reference, I would have been lost and this book would have been abysmal. That said, for me this book was an excellent read. I LOVED this book. I found no significant errors in the book (a small typo here or there). I used it to prepare for the Microsoft class on Desiging and Imlementing a Database Design using SQL Server 2000. I am a network engineer by trade and was afraid that I would be left behind in this class, so I needed to get up to speed quickly. This book provided huge amounts of clear and concise information to me in a very short time, and in the class I was probably the most knowledgeable student (not bad for a network engineer in a room full of DBAs and web programmers). In fact, there were multiple occasions where the information I learned in this book let me answer questions in the class that the instructor could not, and I also pointed out several instances where my instructor was just plain wrong. In summary, if you have some sort of database experience using a different product, this will get you up to speed very quickly on the vast majority of the aspects of SQL Server 2000. I commend the author on his writing style. I would have given it 5 stars if the audience for the book was more clearly defined by the title or the back page.
Rating: 
Summary: Good thing it wasn't my money...
Review: I found this book in the company library and hoped it would be a good starting point, not the case. Time to order a decent, well written, well organized book on the basics of SQL Server.
Rating: 
Summary: Not a beginner's guide, by my definition of beginner
Review: I'm sure this book was well written to the right audience. But, whoa, not to a real beginner. It may take a few college level IT courses and some experience to begin to grasp the material (IMHO). But, it did come with a CD...
Rating:
Summary: Not a beginner's guide, by my definition of beginner
Review: I'm sure this book was well written to the right audience. But, whoa, not to a real beginner. It may take a few college level IT courses and some experience to begin to grasp the material (IMHO). But, it did come with a CD...
Rating:
Summary: Save your money!!
Review: Poorly written. Goes around in circles; no obvious beginning, ending, or guiding points along the way.
Rating:
Summary: Truely for beginners
Review: So, the boss called me up one day and said, "Your team has to learn SQL Server 2000." I said, "How long do we have?" She answered, "How fast can you do it?" After tooling around the store, I chose this book and we bought three copies. In one week, we were all functional in SQL Server (with background in SQL and relational databases already there). That's a good deal.
So, I recommended it to others in our company who need to learn more about relational databases, or more about SQL or more about SQL Server 2000. The experience has been universally good. It may not be deep (my only downgrade) but it is specific. I think the author managed to give just enough explanation about relational databases without going too deep. As a data purist, I might argue that more is better on this subject. However, I am responsible for training one group that does the same SQL over and over again, and that makes me aware that not everyone has to reach genius level on data. Good job!
Rating:
Summary: Truely for beginners
Review: So, the boss called me up one day and said, "Your team has to learn SQL Server 2000." I said, "How long do we have?" She answered, "How fast can you do it?" After tooling around the store, I chose this book and we bought three copies. In one week, we were all functional in SQL Server (with background in SQL and relational databases already there). That's a good deal. So, I recommended it to others in our company who need to learn more about relational databases, or more about SQL or more about SQL Server 2000. The experience has been universally good. It may not be deep (my only downgrade) but it is specific. I think the author managed to give just enough explanation about relational databases without going too deep. As a data purist, I might argue that more is better on this subject. However, I am responsible for training one group that does the same SQL over and over again, and that makes me aware that not everyone has to reach genius level on data. Good job!
Rating:
Summary: Truely for beginners
Review: So, the boss called me up one day and said, "Your team has to learn SQL Server 2000." I said, "How long do we have?" She answered, "How fast can you do it?" After tooling around the store, I chose this book and we bought three copies. In one week, we were all functional in SQL Server (with background in SQL and relational databases already there). That's a good deal. So, I recommended it to others in our company who need to learn more about relational databases, or more about SQL or more about SQL Server 2000. The experience has been universally good. It may not be deep (my only downgrade) but it is specific. I think the author managed to give just enough explanation about relational databases without going too deep. As a data purist, I might argue that more is better on this subject. However, I am responsible for training one group that does the same SQL over and over again, and that makes me aware that not everyone has to reach genius level on data. Good job!
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