Inside Microsoft® SQL Server® 2008: T-SQL Programming (Pro-Developer) [Paperback]

Itzik Ben-Gan (Author), Dejan Sarka (Author), Roger Wolter (Author), Greg Low (Author), Ed Katibah (Author), Isaac Kunen (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 16, 2009 | ISBN-10: 0735626022 | ISBN-13: 978-0735626027 | Edition: 1

Get a detailed look at the internal architecture of T-SQL with this comprehensive programming reference. Database developers and administrators get best practices, expert techniques, and code samples to master the intricacies of this programming language—solving complex problems with real-world solutions.

Discover how to:

• Work with T-SQL and CLR user-defined functions, stored procedures, and triggers.
• Handle transactions, concurrency, and error handling.
• Efficiently use temporary objects, including temporary tables, table variables, and table expressions.
• Evaluate when to use set-based programming techniques and when to use cursors.
• Work with dynamic SQL in an efficient and secure manner.
• Treat date- and time-related data in a robust manner.
• Develop CLR user-defined types and learn about temporal support in the relational model.
• Use XML and XQuery and implement a dynamic schema solution.
• Work with spatial data using the new geometry and geography types and spatial indexes.
• Track access and changes to data using extended events, SQL Server Audit, change tracking, and change data capture.
• Use Service Broker for controlled asynchronous processing in database applications.

All the book’s code samples will be available for download from the companion Web site.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Itzik Ben-Gan is a mentor and cofounder of Solid Quality Mentors. A Microsoft MVP for SQL Server since 1999, Ben-Gan teaches and consults internationally on T-SQL querying, programming, and query tuning. He is the coauthor of Inside Microsoft SQL Server: T-SQL Querying and Inside Microsoft SQL Server:T-SQL Programming. He has written numerous articles for SQL Server Magazine and MSDN®, and speaks at industry events such as Microsoft Tech*Ed, DevWeek, PASS, and SQL Server Connections.

Dejan Sarka is MCT and MCDBA certified and a Microsoft® MVP for SQL Server®. He teaches and consults for Solid Quality Mentors, speaks at TechEd and PASS, and develops OLTP, OLAP, and data mining solutions.

Greg Low is a SQL Server MVP and Microsoft Regional Director. He is based in Melbourne, Australia and is the CEO and Principal Mentor for SQL Down Under. Greg is probably best known for his SQL Down Under podcast.

Roger Wolter is an architect on the Microsoft IT MDM (Master Data Management) project team. He has 30 years of experience in various aspects of the computer industry and has spent the past 10 years as a program manager at Microsoft. His projects at Microsoft include SQLXML, the Soap Toolkit, the SQL Server Service Broker, SQL Server Express, and Master Data Services.Dr.

Ed Katibah is a principal program manager on the Microsoft SQL Server Security team.

Isaac Kunen is a senior program manager on the Microsoft SQL Server Storage Engine team.

Product Details

• Paperback: 640 pages
• Publisher: Microsoft Press; 1 edition (September 16, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0735626022
• ISBN-13: 978-0735626027
• Product Dimensions: 7.4 x 1.9 x 9.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.5 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #144,391 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #51 in Books > Computers & Technology > Microsoft > Development > SQL Server
  • #69 in Books > Computers & Technology > Databases > SQL

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 16 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Outstanding Book Covering T-SQL Programming w/ SQL Server 2008 April 9, 2010

By Dan McKinnon VINE™ VOICE

Format:Paperback

Being primarily a database and web developer, I feel more than experienced enough to review 'Inside Microsoft SQL Server 2008: T-SQL Programming' by Itzik Ben-Gan and others and I feel more and easily able to give this ***** and highly recommend this text. All the basics are covered in this 800 page book. It's not a teaching book that will give you all the ins and outs of database design and use, but it will show you what the major points of using SQL Server 2008 are, and how to get the most out of them.

Major topics covered are Views, User-Defined Functions, Stored Procedures, Triggers, Transactions & Concurrency, Error Handling, Temporary Tables/Table Variables, Cursors, Dynamic SQL, Date/Time usage, CLR User-Defined Types, Temporal Support, XML & XQuery usage, Spatial Data, Tracking Access and Changes, and finally Service Broker discussion.

The parts of the book that I enjoyed most were the last 6 chapters, as discussion on CLR usage, Spatial Data, and the like are limited in most other SQL Server books. I especially loved the chapter on Spatial data, a very important subject that has much, much greater support than years in the past.

If you are a SQL Server developer or admin, you owe it to yourself to take a hard look at this great book. It is written fantastic and is a great resource that I found useful from the moment I picked it up.

***** HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Probably the best focused on T-SQL Programming June 18, 2011

By Andre Guerreiro

Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase

I can't praise this book enough.
This is one of those books that keeps you interested like a good best-selling novel because it's so well written, almost in a conversational way. The author seems pationate about the technologies being shown and he doesn't try to confuse the readers by using a vocabulary which is difficult to understand like many other technical books.

Each chapter is filled with real world code examples and you can download the sample database used in the book's website. I find the examples to be satisfyingly useful and a lot of them helped me to think of better ways to optimize my code.
This book also served as a wonderful reference when I was studying for my MCITP exam.

To sum it all, this is probably the best book about T-SQL I've read because it's easy to understand and presents many useful techniques and explanations. It's not for the beginner though. To those I recommend the first book in the series: "T-SQL Querying" by the same author.

I recommend this book along with Kalen Delaney's SQL Server 2008 Internals because they complement each other amazingly.

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Inside Microsoft SQL Server 2008-T-SQL Programming Book Review October 27, 2010

By Cecil T. Champenois Jr.

Format:Paperback

I have used SQL Server since the 6.5/7.0 days and thought I knew enough to get by. I had various experiences with SQL Server 2000/2005, and then did not immediately use SQL Server 2008 until the Spring of 2010; I took a T-SQL CLASS using SQL Server 2008 at Mt. San Antonio College in Walnut, California. I learned a great deal that I did not previously know from Professor Shui-lien Huang, a very excellent teacher.

You can work with SQL Server, and unless you have the opportunity to have many challenges to stretch your skills, you may seemingly work in a silo and never learn all of it, which is a good reason to buy this book: "Inside Microsoft SQL Server 2008: T-SQL Programming". I am glad I had the T-SQL class before reading this book.

This book contains the typical coverage for a standard T-SQL statement, and then User-Defined Functions (UDFs), Triggers, Stored Procedures, Views, etc., but also some new things. For example, extending SQL Server by using CLR (Common Language Runtime) user defined types, the use of XML, dynamic SQL, and Service Broker for reliable, asynchronous processing, and Spatial Data (i.e. geodata).
On the subject of Spatial Data in Chapter 14, Microsoft has brought forth new data types, operators, and indexes to the database. Microsoft introduces the core spatial concepts and provides key programming constructs to successfully navigate this new feature in SQL Server 2008. There are 70 pages covering Spatial Data. Obviously, this is a heavy topic.

Because of auditing and compliance requirements, the issue of tracking access and changes to data has become much more important. This book shows how previous versions of SQL Server did take care of this to some degree, but in SQL Server 2008, Microsoft has added the following: change tracking, change data capture, Extended Events, and SQL Server Audit. The book shows provides guidance on where each of these new technologies is best used, and then goes on to show how to implement each technology.

This is not a beginner's T-SQL book, but it does cover beginner topics, as mentioned above. In addition, it covers some of the new aspects of SL Server 2008 that are more complex. This is most assuredly a valuable reference book that all T-SQL and .NET developers and database administrators should have nearby. It will give you excellent instruction and answers to your T-SQL questions.