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Summary: Excellent resource for the SQL server developer
Review: As someone new to SQL Server (my company is mainly Oracle), I found this book to be a handy tool. The authors included refreshingly practical explanations and examples for "real-world" enterprise development. Included were extensive details on interfaces, including: OLE DB and ADO; ODBC API (call-level interface); RDO; and VB DAO and ODBCDirect. I found helpful explanations for integrating SQL Server 7 databases with the Web and developing Active Server Pages, which is what I bouhgt the book for.Of course, this being a book on SQL Server, it is very Microsoft-centric, with examples pointing toward VB and Visual C++, but I expected this. All in all an excellent resource.
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Summary: Great reference book
Review: Easy to read, good organization and examples. A great reference book for DBAs and developers. Also excellent as a study reference for SQL exams.
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Summary: A complete Book
Review: Excellent ! It's rare to find a book covering either the DB concepts and programming. One lack of this book is it covers programming techniques such as DAO, ODBCDirect, DB-Library, Access which may be eliminated in the future.
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Summary: Good Intro to SQL 7.0, but lacks depth...
Review: Granted SQL 7.0 is a large subject to try to cover in one book, but I was hoping for a little broader coverage of the new areas, such as Data Transformation Services, etc. The material that is included in the book is excellent, but many areas are completely ignored.
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Summary: very good
Review: helped me alot in my cs curse
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Summary: Great information, but poor index makes it a poor reference.
Review: I bought this book mainly as a reference, and for the most part it fills that role quite well. It has provided me with all the basic and detailed information that I need to design and manage the simple databases that I use. One big problem with the book, though, is its lousy index. It's nearly useless. That is a big minus for a reference book. On many occasions, I've needed a quick answer on a subject, only to find that subject not listed in the index. For instance, just now I wanted to know the sizes of the various data types. I searched for "data types" in the index and found nothing. I tried "integer" and found nothing. Finally, after browsing through the table of contents and several chapters of text, I found a great table, (starting on page 405), that gave me exactly the information I needed. Why wasn't this table in the index under data types? Because it is not, a search that should have taken me several seconds took me several minutes. I would rate this book a five if the index were worth more than the paper it's printed on. As it is, however, it rates a three for me.
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Summary: A Perfect Book for anyone who knows NOTHING about DataBases
Review: I bought this book with the hope that it will save me from my hopeless case, which was my final project. My final project was a web interactive database system for On-line student registeration, which I knew nothing about. Fortunately, this book was PERFECT. It will go with you from the start, and you will end with all the necessary information you want. As an advice, if you need something good and up to the point, this book is the solution. However, i suggest that you will start with the developper's chapters before the administrator's ones. As a conclusion, from all the developpers books i bought -and they are many, THIS IS THE BEST.
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Summary: The most complete SQL Server - VB Developer Reference
Review: I have been developing database applications with Visual Basic since version 3.0 of the product was released several years ago. When SQL Server 7.0 was released, I needed to find a complete reference guide that would help me. It had to be a well laid out guide with sample code to help me build highly flexible and scaleable SQL database solutions. This book does it! Not only have I used it to develop VB to SQL Server solutions, but MSAccess to SQL Server and believe it or not, VB and MSAccess to Sybase SQL applications! Because both Sybase and SQL Server understand the Transact SQL format, it was a helpful! The documentation in the book was so good, I have not yet even taken a look at the included CD-ROM! I want to encourage ANY intermediate to advanced VB/Database developer to buy this book! BUY THIS BOOK FELLOW VBers and Access developers!!!!!
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Summary: Perfect for programmers who also need to be DBAs
Review: I have read this book at least eight times since I bought it months ago! It is truly a Developer's Guide. As an accomplished VB and Access database application programmer, it was refreshing to find that I could migrate those skills to SQL Server so easily with a book like this. If you have any "desktop" database experience and want to take your work to the next level, this is the book to get you there.
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Summary: Just about the best computer book I own
Review: I own *lots* of computer books, but few come close to matching the breadth and usefulness of this SQL Server 7 book. This is definitely not another rehash of the Microsoft manuals with "shovelware" code on CD. It's original, well-written and very accessible. There is excellent coverage of SQL security, administration, performance, and the various database interfaces. There's a very useful relational db and SQL primer. The book also includes lots of practical VB code examples, and the CD contains a unique set of data access wizards which I found particularly helpful. In short: well done!
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