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Rating: 
Summary: Vague, poorly edited, and generally useless
Review: After having read eight syngress books for certifications, this is the first time I had to get supplemental material to pass an exam. This book is vague, poorly organized, full of typos and syntax errors. It does not go into enough detail to help you pass the 70-229 exam or even gain a usable knowledge of MS SQL. This book is a waste of money. TRY SOMETHING ELSE!!!! I read "Inside SQL Server 2000" by Microsoft Press in order to pass the exam.
Rating:
Summary: Do NOT buy this book
Review: Having been silly enough to buy this hopelessly inacurate book myself, I want to warn other off.Both the text and the self-tests are riddled with errors. For example:
1) On page 175 there is an example stored procedure which uses an IF statement. However, the code is wrong because it doesn't correctly use BEGIN and END to delimit the statement blocks.
2) The answer to self-test question 6 in chapter 5 states: "a left outer join will return all rows from the left result set and rows from the right result set that match rows in the left result set, as well as those that don't match rows in the left result set" (sic). Anyone who has a basic grasp of SQL (and can decipher that awful sentence) can tell you that is utter nonsense!!
3) The answer to self-test question 8 in the same chapter states "a T-SQL variable cannot be aliased in a query". That is also just plain WRONG. These are just the ones that I've noticed so far, having read half the book. Other complaints: its light on detail, badly written (see other review about bad grammer, this is very true) and the index is absolutely useless. Do yourself a favour, do not buy this damn thing under any circumstances.
Rating: 
Summary: Not for the uninitiated
Review: I found this an excellent reference, but not a "SQL for Idiots" guide that I think many IT new-comers are looking for. Having a working grasp of relational database systems is required. This book helped me prepare for the obscurities of the MCDBA test that I would not normally run across in the real world. One thing that I did notice is the drastically different
styles of the chapters, it was clear that it was a group collaboration with some gifted writers and some not (The style of chapter 2 should have persisted throughout the book, it would have been much more enjoyable!) Overall, It was highly informative and has been a great reference so I have nothing but positive things to say, but for those who expect to pass after reading it... A book isn't an alternative to experience.
Rating:
Summary: Not for the uninitiated
Review: I found this an excellent reference, but not a "SQL for Idiots" guide that I think many IT new-comers are looking for. Having a working grasp of relational database systems is required. This book helped me prepare for the obscurities of the MCDBA test that I would not normally run across in the real world. One thing that I did notice is the drastically different
styles of the chapters, it was clear that it was a group collaboration with some gifted writers and some not (The style of chapter 2 should have persisted throughout the book, it would have been much more enjoyable!) Overall, It was highly informative and has been a great reference so I have nothing but positive things to say, but for those who expect to pass after reading it... A book isn't an alternative to experience.
Rating:
Summary: A fairly good book for MCDBA and MCSD Preparation
Review: I recently passed 70-229 exam. I used this book as my preparation guide though I frequently referred to SQL Server Books Online. The book is easy to read and explains the topics well. The review questions at the end of chapters are quite good to test your understanding of the materials. However, expect much tougher scenario based questions in exams. I found the book somewhat lacking in depth in the coverage of replication, the use of query analyzer tools, and transaction and locking issues. So, you may want to turn to Books Online to help you out there...
Rating:
Summary: Not enough
Review: I used this book as the primary preparation method for taking the 70-229 test. It was not sufficient. I failed the test the first time I tried after using this book for 90% of my preparation. There are complete subjects on the test that the book leaves you unprepared for. I wanted to write a good review, hoping that the book was what it claimed but as it turns out it is not.
Rating: 
Summary: Not very good for 70-229...
Review: Needing to pass another test to keep my MCSD cert, I tried this book as prep for 70-229. Did the whole thing and examples. From passing other cert tests I knew it was LIGHT on specifics!. Talkes a lot about SQL server and new features in a general way but skirts around necessary details, specifics and examples needed to pass... Had to buy another book(Que Exam Geer: 70-229 SQL Design/Implement) and then went and past the test...
Rating: 
Summary: Quite good from novice perspective
Review: This book is a great primer for the Exam and SQL Server development in general. While you obviously need to live, eat, and sleep Books On Line to pass the exam, this was a great place to start. I found the chapter on T-SQL to be one of the better ones I've ever read, and I still refer to it often. While no book gives you the test answers (try brain dumps if you want that), I find this a great book.
Rating:
Summary: Not for studying for MCDBA
Review: This book is so poor on detail. It gives T-SQL example code and does not show the output. Explains major topics in one paragraph. I was also not pleased with the constant cursury overview of a topic and more than 200 hundred references to "SQL books online". If you cannot cover the topic in detail, do not pretend to be a test prep book, or else give a copy of the books on CD. There are less than 15 pages devoted to stored procedures. This book is too general. I would recommend finding another source to use as a study guide. I had no confidence that what was in the book was what I needed to study or was it in SQL Books Online and I may miss a topic if I did not go there instead. Very poorly written. Bad examples and too vague. This book is a rehash of the SQL Server 7 book and not updated very much. the new functionality such as user defined types was one paragraph. However, the other books by Osborne, "Windows 2000 Server" and the datbase adminstration books were very helpful in passing the exams.
Rating:
Summary: Hefty but Excellent.
Review: What struck me most about this book was the completeness of the material. While it was an excellent prep for the exam (passed!) it also goes beyond that and actually teaches practical information. So if you're an aspiring paper MCDBA or paper MCSE looking for a quick read that will tell you only the exam answers, this isn't the book. Database design is a complicated topic and this book is an excellent, albeit lengthy, read.
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