Advanced Transact-SQL for SQL Server 2000

Rating:
Summary: Lots of typos, coding errors
Review: There were so many code errors and typos in the first three chapters of this book that I stopped counting. There are numerous technical/factual errors throughout the book, and the code examples are rather simplistic. I see nothing "advanced" about this book. Wish I hadn't wasted my time with it.

Rating:
Summary: Interesting Solutions
Review: This book has lots of worked problems and solutions. For example, the authors show how to remove duplicates, handle hierarchies, auditing, pivot tables, password encryption, case sensitive searches, opening a cursor on a stored proc call, doing your own sort order, etc. It would be nice to have the code on CD, instead of downloading.

Rating:
Summary: Mediocre and misses lots of important details
Review: This is a mediocre little book that doesn't deserve shelf space in your library. Everything in it is also in the BOL. Also, it's not written terribly well. I'm no literary critic, but the writing is drab - very, very drab. Get the Gurus Guide to Transact-SQL - it's much better.

Rating:
Summary: I liked it
Review: My friend showed me this book and I went out and got one. It's easy to understand and I like the full discussions of each example. It doesn't leave you hanging. They even compare the performance of different solutions and I like that. The new stuff for SQL Server seems to be well covered, though there is nothing on XML but it is supposed to be about Transact-SQL, so I guess that's OK. I picked up some tricks with derived tables that I have put to use. Chapter 16 on hierarchies was cool. It brought together the triggers and user-defined functions ideas in a practical problem.

Rating:
Summary: A good book, not perfect but very useful
Review: I read some of the other reviews and I was wondering if we were reading the same book? I found this book extremely useful if not brilliantly written. In particular, I thought the section on triggers was extremely useful and helped me solve some problems we had been having in our installation.

Rating:
Summary: Omits crucial info
Review: Would like to have seen coverage of all the new features in SS 2000. Instead, the coverage is hit and miss. There are also mistakes in many of the examples. I was expecting deep coverage of advanced Transact SQL, but this book doesn't deliver. If you're a complete beginner, it might offer something useful for you, but otherwise, I wouldn't bother.

Rating:
Summary: Lots of typos, errors, and generally bad writing
Review: I had a pretty bad experience with this book. There are numerous errors and typos in the book. I wrote the authors about these but have yet to receive a reply. Several of the example queries simply don't work. I also didn't think the book was written very well. Overly long sentences and $50 words seem to be a favorite of the authors. For example, I came across one doozie that was four and a half lines long. That's way too long for a single sentence. The book looks as though it hasn't yet been edited. Wouldn't waste my money if I were you...

Rating:
Summary: Shallow to a fault
Review: One of the problems with a lot of computer books these days is that they try to cover a wide range of topics without _really_ delving into anything. This is one such book. It will tell you what a stored procedure is, how to code it, what some of the syntax is - the basics - without really going into the details. In other words, you won't learn anything from this book that you couldn't learn on your own in an afternoon with the Books Online and Query Analyzer. The SQL presented in this book is neither advanced nor SQL Server 2K specific, and I think you'd be wasting your money to buy it.

Rating:
Summary: Great book on T-SQL
Review: As a developer, I spend most of my time slogging through VB or C++ code, working with ADO in order to get to my data. I've used stored procedures for some time, but always felt I could have the database do more of the work, if I just understood it better. Along comes this book, and all I can say is, "Thanks!" Itzik Ben-Gan and Tom Moreau do an excellent job of describing the full power of T-SQL. This book has helped me write dramatically better stored procedures, which has sped up my data access and helped me do work on the server that I used to have to do in code on the client. From the topics on CUBE and ROLLUP to the chapters on stored procedures, triggers, and horizontally partitioned views, this is an excellent book for anyone wanting to exploit the power of SQL Server 2000. It's also good to see that the book was based on the final version of SQL Server 2000, not the beta version like some of the other books out there.

Rating:
Summary: A commentary on Critiques:
Review: A common theme among the negative critiques, is the use of the word "Advanced" in the book's title. Personally, i think the authors should simply have chosen a different title, and half of the negative comments would have been subdued. (Something to signify the apparent intent of the authors, such as "An anthology of T-SQL", or "A Comprehensive Introduction to T-SQL" ...) "Advanced" of course is to some extent a product of one's own thinking, and experience. Another aspect to this subject of "Advanced" has to do with the totally hackneyed, over-worked use of the term "Guru." Someone / something can in fact be "Advanced", and NOT be in the realm of "Guru." This term is COMPLETELY over-used, and over-applied. There are in fact but a very FEW "Guru's" out there in the 'Real World' (Ken Henderson being one.) A Guru is a unique, creative combination of high native intelligence, tireless enthusiasm, and indeterminate hours of true, Hands-On Experience, with the product. A Guru can be identified as someone who ALWAYS seems to know more about the topic, no matter what he/she is asked or challenged with. (As an aside....a "Guru" is NOT always a great, or even good, author ... or, communicator to humans, in general ... although this particular talent definitely is advantageous!) In short, evaluate a product, such as a computer book, on its merits, applicability to the task at hand, and value to YOU. Take with a GIANT grain of salt, any negative critique(s) before choosing .... esp. those propagated from a SINGLE source masquerading as MULTIPLE people!