Rating: 
Summary: Not bad, but certainly not great
Review: As an experienced SQL Server developer I have long lamented the number of books on the market that focused on Transact SQL programming. Most books on SQL Server tend to cover a little T-SQL along with a lot more on the administration tools and overall product architecture. When I saw this book (recommended on a newsgroup post for its SQL XML coverage) was available I ordered two copies the same day; one for me and another for a team member on my current project, which is our first production application using SQL Server 2000. When it arrived I sat down and started reading, and was quickly disappointed.First of all, the depth of coverage was severely lacking for a 700-page book. If the publisher had not used such a large font and not included so many redundant screen shots (although I do see the value in illustrating tool use, dozens and dozens of screen shots of SQL Query Analyzer showing the output of stored procedures could have been better served by several text excerpts) this could easily have been a 500-page volume, or had some additional details that would have given the non-novice user a little added value. Based on the size, the title and other reader's reviews I was expecting a much deeper coverage than the book provided. Second, the code samples that were included (please keep in mind that this is one developer's opinion, but those colleagues of mine who have reviewed the book have agreed with me) are among the worst examples of T-SQL code I've ever encountered. The font used (I hope that this is not consistent across this entire book series, as some of the other Osborne titles also look promising) may as well not have been a fixed-width font for how difficult it is to follow. The author's indentation and capitalization are inconsistent with any published SQL or T-SQL standard I've ever seen, and are even inconsistent with the "coding conventions" included in the book. If I were to submit these code samples to a peer code review I would be embarrassed to hand them out; I cannot imagine publishing them to an audience of thousands. Third, and perhaps most significantly, I got the distinct impression that this book started out as "SQL Server 7.0 Stored Procedure Programming" but didn't make it to press before SQL Server 2000 was released, and was hastily updated after the fact. Although there are certainly examples of new SQL Server 2000 features (such as User Defined Functions and the new Table data type) they are extremely lacking in detail; they receive coverage that is cursory even compared to other topics in this book, whereas one would expect them (based on the book's title) to receive more extensive coverage because of their newness. The most significant failure in this regard is the coverage of IDENTITY values, and the techniques used to capture and process them programmatically. The author spends seven complete pages (449-555) discussing different workaround techniques to capture the IDENTITY value generated by an INSERT operation (such as using sequence tables instead of IDENTITY or storing the IDENTITY value in a temporary table) where that value would be lost if a trigger on the base table also inserted into another table with an IDENTITY column. While this is certainly a valid topic (and a traditional sore spot for SQL Server developers) SQL Server 2000 provides two new system functions IDENT_CURRENT() and SCOPE_IDENTITY() that make @@IDENTITY and the author's workarounds obsolete. The fact that the author was (is?) unaware of this very relevant new functionality makes it very difficult for me to take the rest of the book seriously; how much else was he unaware of, and how many other serious omissions or errors did I miss when reading? Now with all of this said, I'm still giving the book three stars, although I was tempted to give it two. It's not an inherently bad book, but is certainly not (again, this is simply one developer's opinion) the "awesome" or "excellent" book that some of the other reviewers would have you believe. If you are a novice or intermediate SQL Server developer you will certainly benefit from reading this book. If you are an advanced developer, you will likely be better served by looking for another book. I've just ordered "Advanced Transact-SQL for SQL Server 2000" by Itzik Ben Gan and Thomas Moreau and "Inside Microsoft SQL Server 2000" by Kalen Delaney (if only I'd known that this one was out when I placed my order, as Kalen Delaney is simply the goddess of the SQL Server world) and am hoping that one of these books is what I expected "SQL Server 2000 Stored Procedure Programming" to be.
Rating: 
Summary: well written
Review: The book is well written with many good samples. I use it whenever I get in a bind on Stored Proc programming. The only problem is that, unlike other publishers (Wrox), there is no available code samples online. One great thing about Wrox books is that if I want to see a sample work, I don't have to retype the whole thing. This publisher should work on that feature.
Rating: 
Summary: a good book that gives a lot of info
Review: I've learnt a lot from this book
Rating:
Summary: Easy to comprehend book for beginner and advanced user alike
Review: I have never worked with SQL Server before. This is the first time that I learn TSQL and Stored Procedures for my web project. I found the book to be extremely easy to follow, there are a lot of To-The-Point code examples. As the results of this excellent book I have learned in 3 months how to do things that are considered advanced in TSQL programming: 1. Create SQL Statements with dynamic columns names that you pass them in as parameters. 2. Immitate Array (not available in TSQL) by using Min() and Max() functions. 3. Return Multiple recordsets to the web page reduces my original ASP code of 32 database calls to a single database call. 4. Do batch insert with dynamic number of insert statement by passing parameter by string and use TSQL string functions to get each of the variable in the string to build dynamic multiple insert statements (another array immitation). I am amused that after 3 months I have digested most of the materials in the book. This is a Must-Buy book if you want to learn stored procedures. Most of other book in the shelves cover just about the same topics but requires you to have working knowledge of SQL to comprehend.
Rating:
Summary: Truly excellent - I use it daily.
Review: This is one of the clearest, most useful programming books I have ever run across in 18 years of programming! If you are doing anything more than writing simple queries, get this book. Highly useful for those developing ADO.NET SQL Server applications, because it covers all the nuances of SQL stored procedures and triggers that you'll want behind your ADO.NET apps. Also covers the differences between SQL 7 and 2000 clearly, and goes into automating administrative tasks via T-SQL, including the Windows registry. Has a good introduction to SQL XML.
Rating:
Summary: Great Book!!!!!
Review: The best thing about this book is that the author explains why you should do certain things. It explains how SQL Server works to process your request. This is the best SQL book I have read.
Rating:
Summary: Great for Oracle to SQL server
Review: The book helped me to convert the database from Oracle (PL/SQL) to SQL server (TSQL).
Rating:
Summary: For TSQL developers
Review: Wow! The long awaited "How-To" book for SQL Server developers. Not only does authors explain what everything is, they give examples and suggests where the technology is applicable and where it should not be used. Developers should be sleeping with this book under their pillow. DBAs will gain some knowlege from this book, but some of the chapters can be skipped. Although there were some editing errors, the book is pleasant to read.
Rating:
Summary: Ideal as your second SQL Server book
Review: May be it is not the book for a person seeing database for the first time. But this is one book close to my heart. Authors do not talk about basic database queries or SQL Server architecture. But, if you're a serious TSQL programmer or serious Web developer and looking for the finer points - this book is an absolute must !
Rating:
Summary: For students and professionals
Review: This is one of the best written and easiest to read of any technical book I've ever read. We've often provided this book to students in the SQL Server classes that we teach. Authors present a tremendous overview and in-depth analysis of the TSQL language with practical examples. They include many design recommendations and practical real world examples and recommendations that make this a solid book for TSQL professionals who are serious about writing production code.
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