Customer Reviews

MCTS: Microsoft SQL Server 2005 Implementation and Maintenance Study Guide: Exam 70-431

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This book's intention is to prepare the reader as best as it can to pass the Microsoft 70-431 exam. It covers all the relevant topics and appears to be a great resource in doing so. However, I have a few concerns.

First the positives: The book is well balanced with theory followed by practical exercises. Each chapter ends with a summary of what was just covered, what level of knowledge is expected for the exam followed by 20 sample test questions. The practical exercises are valuable in that they familiarise the reader with HOW to accomplish the objective hands on using SQL tools. After completing this book my knowledge of SQL Server 2005 increased dramatically.

Now the negatives. This book is meant to help prepare for an exam. It introduces the material to be examined on in the chapter body but when it comes to the test questions at the end of each chapter, often the questions test knowledge not covered in the book. This really defeats the purpose of what this book is meant for. Either the chapters need more material or the test questions go beyond what is required in the actual exam.

Having just completed the exam, I found the material covered in this book goes well beyond what the exam covers. e.g. I spent time memorizing how to calculate the size of a table and there was nothing in the exam on this. As someone preparing for the exam, this was a waste of my time. As a DBA - it was valuable. So it depends on why you purchase this book as to how good it is. If they removed all references to the 70-431 exam, this book would be a good general resource.

Further negatives: The book could also do with an editor to correct repetitive paragraphs. There are also cases where the answers to the end of chapter questions are incorrect. The explanation is correct, but the ABCD choice given is obviously a typo. This could lead an unsuspecting reader to assume the wrong answer in their learning.

Other than the problems highlighted, the book overall delivers a good effort in exposing the reader to the topics required to be learnt in order to pass the exam. I found the positives outweighed the negatives. I consider it to be a worthwhile resource for anyone preparing for this certification. But know upfront it contains errors, and a LOT of material not required for this exam - making this a less than perfect or ideal resource to study exclusively.

Be carefull relying on only this book for studying, I have found errors both factual and typing in mainly (but not limited to) the Review Questions sections.

I'm about two-thirds of the way through this book. Especially in the early chapters there were numerous and frequent typesetting errors/typos, including in the practice questions. This was annoying. The practice questions tend to be challenging so they really help you dig in and learn the material.

I have found that the basic instructive text does not provide answers to all the practice questions in the book (most questions are covered in the book, but not all). You will need a supplementary reference like the SQL Server online books. As you reach some of the more difficult material, such as the service broker, the text seems to move quickly over a lot of material. Combining this book with SQL Server Books Online or another reference seems to be the best.

Overall I would say this book is better than average. But I have not compared it to other offerings and I have not taken the certification exam.

This is the worst Microsoft certification (not by Microsoft, but about Microsoft certifications) book I've ever read. It's filled with typos, incorrect answers, and just plain wrong information. For example, in explaining the rules for creating indexed views, "sp_dboption 'ANSI_NULLS', true" will not work. That's the incorrect syntax. The DB name must be included. Another problem I found that was extremely time-waisting are in answers which were calculation-based. For example, in the author's attempt to answer correctly regarding several questions about calculating the hard drive space and DB size requirements, he fails by providing wrong answers or answers based on different calculations not specified in the book. I find these types of errors in every single chapter!

Ultimately, I decided to trash this book and buy another one. I should've checked the ratings before buying this. That teaches me to think before buying.

I had to use this book for a class. It has many mistakes and the quizzes at the end of the chapters ask questions that weren't even covered. Everyone in my class including the instructor agreed that this was not a good book. It either barely discusses or doesn't even cover things that the quizzes ask you about. I am going to find another book to study from before I even think about taking the test. The labs were terrible also, some of them couldn't even be completed as set up by the book. I wouldn't even waste my money on this.

I have been using this book to improve my knowledge on SQL Server 2005 but I found this book to be very light on the subject. I am using a second book (microsoft version) as supplement and this one is published by Solid Quality Learning
Overall, this book can be used as starting point

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