Inside Microsoft SQL Server 2005: T-SQL Querying (Solid Quality Learning) [Paperback]

Itzik Ben-Gan (Author), Lubor Kollar (Author), Dejan Sarka (Author)

Book Description

Series: Solid Quality Learning | Publication Date: April 26, 2006

Take a detailed look at the internal architecture of T-SQL—and unveil the power of set-based querying—with comprehensive reference and advice from the experts. Database developers and administrators get best practices, sample databases, and code to master the intricacies of the programming language—solving complex problems with real-world solutions.

Discover how to:

• Understand logical and physical query processing
• Apply a methodology to optimize query tuning
• Solve relational division problems
• Use CTEs and ranking functions to simplify and optimize solutions
• Aggregate data with various techniques, including tiebreakers, pivoting, histograms, and grouping factors
• Use the TOP option in a query to modify data
• Query specialized data structures with recursive logic, materialized path, or nested sets solutions
• PLUS—Improve your logic and get to the heart of querying problems with logic puzzles

Get code and database samples on the Web

Editorial Reviews

From the Publisher

Key Book Benefits: -Delivers practical, hands-on guidance on sophisticated uses of T-SQL, including the differences between logical and physical processing, nesting of queries, and much more -Provides deep background information that helps developers optimize queries, aggregate data, and develop hierarchies and recursive queries -Helps promote mastery of T-SQL -Features numerous code and table examples, practical advice, logic puzzles, and best practices

About the Author

The primary author, Itzik Ben-Gan, is a Principal Mentor and Founder of Solid Quality Learning. A SQL Server Microsoft Most Valuable Professional (MVP) since 1999, Itzik has delivered dozens of training events across the U.S. and Europe focused on T-SQL programming, performance tuning and internals, administration, implementation, data warehousing, and online analytical processing (OLAP). An accomplished author, Itzik has written many articles for SQL Server Magazine, as well as articles and white papers for MSDN®. Itzik’s speaking activities have included Tech·Ed, DevWeek, PASS, SQL Server Connections, and SQLU Summits, to name a few.

Lubor Kollar is a program manager on the SQL Server team at Microsoft Corporation who focuses on optimization.

Dejan Sarka is a Solid Quality Learning Associate Mentor.

Product Details

• Paperback: 632 pages
• Publisher: Microsoft Press; 1 edition (April 26, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0735623139
• ISBN-13: 978-0735623132
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 7.5 x 1.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.6 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (33 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #217,026 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #63 in Books > Computers & Technology > Microsoft > Development > SQL Server

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

47 of 50 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Must Have, December 20, 2006

By 

Grant Fritchey (MA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Inside Microsoft SQL Server 2005: T-SQL Querying (Solid Quality Learning) (Paperback)

This will be a standard book on most DBA's desktops. Itzik Ben-Gan of Solid Quality Learning has taken the Advanced T-SQL course that he teaches and turned it into a fantastic book.

The first two chapters cover the logic of query processing and what physically occurs when you run a query. Very early on Itzik establishes a practice of defining a problem or a question about T-SQL and then spends time working through the solution. This approach carries through the entire book. This not only allows the user to see the problem solving approach in action, but enables the user in pursuing the solutions themselves. Itzik takes the time to lay out a very detailed methodology for identifying and tuning problem queries from the server, through the database, down to the query that's causing the problems. From these foundation chapters he explores topics such as Subqueries and Table Expressions, Joins and Set Operations, Aggregating and Pivoting Data, Top and Apply, Data Modification and finally Graphs, Hierarchies and Recursive Queries.

The greatest thing about the book is that Itzik really explores his solutions. He walks the user into a mind set that accepts only set based operations as the norm for data access. He shows multiple solutions to many of the problems and outlines where and how those solutions differ. This book acts as a good mechanism for actually learning the details of how to use T-SQL withing SQL Server 2005. He also points out where there are differences from 2000 and supplies 2000 only solutions to a lot of the problems, which can help those that need to maintain two code bases. He regularly uses and addresses 2005 functionality so there is zero indications of this being a 2000 book warmed over for re-publication.

Make no mistakes here. This is a high-end book. If you're just getting started in T-SQL, you may want to start out somewhere else. If, after getting down the concepts of SELECT.. FROM... WHERE... GROUP BY... ORDER BY, etc., then come back here and learn what happens and the right reasons to do the right things with the scripts that you write.

I work primarily as a database developer, doing database design from logical models and business requirements and then developing stored procedures, etc., for accessing data from those databases. This kind of information is absolutely vital to doing the best job I can. I think I was predisposed to like this work, but I've actually been picking it up during the day to refer back to points that were unclear to me or that I want to better communicate to others, especially from the first two chapters.

22 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An essential read for serious T-SQL developers, November 25, 2006

By 

Adam Machanic "Data Dude" (Melrose, MA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Inside Microsoft SQL Server 2005: T-SQL Querying (Solid Quality Learning) (Paperback)

As someone quite familiar with Itzik Ben-Gan's work, I expected this to be a really good book. But since I've been reading about and working with SQL Server 2005 since early betas, I didn't expect to learn much. I was, as it turned out, wrong on both counts.

This book surpassed all of my expectations. It's more than just a really good book -- it's a great book -- and I learned quite a bit from reading it. Itzik and his co-authors have a knack for explaining every idea, down to the minute details that you might miss in other books or documentation. The examples are clear and precise, and the author team has done a great job of making even complex topics crystal clear.

This is certainly not a book for beginners; intermediate and advanced practitioners will want to use this book to help get more out of SQL Server. Learn the basics of T-SQL and SQL Server before tackling this one if you want to take full advantage of what it has to offer.

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The true SQL 2005 Book!!!, February 22, 2007

By 

Stephen (Phoenix, AZ) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Inside Microsoft SQL Server 2005: T-SQL Querying (Solid Quality Learning) (Paperback)

I strongly recommend this book to anyone wanting a better understanding of SQL server 2005. I have read several books in this series, they are all good, but this is the best by far. It starts by discussing the logical processing of query, which is very important for understand how to write effective queries. It then discusses how to evaluate your queries, it discusses indexes in extensive detail - to the point that you will understand how to they work and how to make effective indexes. It explains many of the new T-SQL features, and how to use them in real life scenarios. However, note that this is not a T-SQL reference guide. Books online serves that purpose. This is a MUST HAVE for my team.