SQL Server Query Performance Tuning: Distilled

Rating:
Summary: My favorite SQL Server book
Review: This book is always on my desk, as it turns out to very useful al the time. The book contains so many examples and it is going very deep into the details of tuning. I learned a lot of how to optimize my queries and I look every time at the pages read in a query. My version contains parts about database constraints and index defragmentation. I like the style it is written in, very compact like most math books. But is seems to be you need to be an experienced user to get it all what's in the book..

Rating:
Summary: Excellent book focused on SQL Server
Review: This book is primarily focused on getting the most performance out of SQL servers. Overall the book is well written and very well illustrated. There are some weakpoints where code samples are overused, but those are few and far between. The standout chapters, like the one fragmentation analysis are worth the price of admission for people looking to use SQL server in large performance critical deployments.

This book should be compared with O'Reilly's equally excellent "SQL Tuning" book (0596005733). That book is more theoretical in nature, often using equations and graph theory to demonstrate how get the fastest queries. This book is much more practical in nature, often showing screen shots and pointing out directly what is most critical.

It's in the understanding of the reader where this book excels. All too often authors understand the topic but do not understand how to present it. Sajal obviously understands the fine points of the technology, but also understands how to pass on that experience effectively.

I highly recommend this book for anyone working in an environment where high performance database work is required, and where the database is SQL Server.

Rating:
Summary: Horrible, don't waste your money
Review: This is by far the worst SQL Svr book I've read. Many, many important details are glossed over without so much as a word. For example, where is the discussion of the importance of constraints in sound DB design for performance? You know that the query optimizer uses them, right? Where is the discussion of index fragmentation? How about statistic histograms? This book was written by someone who is at best a SQL perf amateur. Don't waste your money.

Rating:
Summary: Practical Performance Tuning Book with Good examples
Review: This is really an excelent book on performance tuning ,Author had exposed the real time situation of performence hits with examples,Which I haven't saw in any other book on similar topic.
All the topics are explained very clear and straight to the point,So you never feel like reading a book.Over all this is a great book.