Customer Reviews

Microsoft SQL Server 2000 Weekend Crash Course

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(6)

 

 

Two thumbs up. My SQL Server is up and running; now I have time to explore things I really need (yes, I had to buy more books)
I've read many books that'd done a good job to scare me away from the subject ; this one hides the complexity until one's ready for it.

If you are looking for a book that will provide overview of SQL Server 2000 without diving into too many details - This is the book for you!
This book glances through all the main features of SQL Server 2000, providing a very good introduction to all of them. SQL Server 2000 is a very complex, feature rich product. This book does a wonderful job of explaining the various features with out going to too many details that 99% of the users will not need anyway.
I especially liked the sections about performance tuning, optimizations and automating administration tasks that provide easy to understand information about those advanced SQL Server features.
If you are a full time job SQL Server DBA, you will probably want a more in depth book. All other SQL Server users - Go get this book!

A good book. Definitely took me longer than 3 days to get through it,
but I was off to a good start from the beginning. The chapter on Transact-SQL could be better
and I am not sure why would I need Replication - for now; but again this is "jack-of-all-trades"  kind of a book
Worth its money, in short.

Very useful book. Definitely helps to start.

I really enjoyed reading the book. Easy to understand, hands on approach and SQL Server 2000 trial edition is included - all I needed to get a jump start.

Lives up to its promise: introduction ito MSSQL Server, no less, no more.
I moved from Oracle and was somehow confused by the "database", "filegroups" etc.
I've got my answers here (and from couple more titles, to be sure)
I neither had problems with instalation, nor with running the examples (save for one: the
chapter on cursor sports keyword DEALLOCATED, has to be - DEALLOCATE; had to check BOL on that)
The Transact-SQL examples could be better (I know PL/SQL, so I had some base here), but again
the book does not claim to teach T-SQL..
The code snippets sometime seem to be taken out of the contexts of bigger procedures, and
I had to figure out how to fit them in; the usp_FindFactorial example seems too complex for
the task it solves (it uses intermediate table to accumulate results
instead of calling itself recursively; should it then be a function?),
but my understanding is that the elegancy was sacrificed to cram in more techniques than requred.
My examples did run correctly, though
After I was through with the book, I had to buy an additional one on Transact-SQL
(IMHO: O'Reily's book Transact-SQL Programming did NOT live up to my expectattions
and the publisher's reputation; I used Sam's T-SQl in 21 days, and then Ken Henderson's book)
To sum up: if you are new to SQL server, and find yourself
somewhat overwhelmed by the Books-On-line style
(comes free with every MSSQL Server installation), get this book
NB: better download new installation from microsoft site; the one included with the book does not have latest security patches)

I am a certified system administrator and I never had the time to study SQL. Finally I decided to sit down and learn ,I ordered a few books trying to build a nice and gradual study course. The book I satrted with is the Weekend Crash Course. I am very happy to say that I found a book that explains basics with good examples thus giving me a smooth start...What I like about this book is that on one hand it doesn't intimidate you as a newbie to a system that is obviously huge and on the other hand it provides you with an adequete level of knowledge to feel that you have gained knowledge.

Highly recommended. The book goes easy on you,and it does not assume any previous knowledge on your part.It will not make you an accomplished DBA over a weekend, but I recommend it as a olid introduction.Material is well organized and presented, with a fair portion of typos and slips :)I did not encounter any installation problems reported from Colorado: no key was ever required (maybe they print special edition for Boulder, CO?). Nevertheless, I do recommend downloading trial version from Microsoft, as it contains the latest fixes (the book was published in 2001, after all).

This book ideal for:
1) Those who do not know SQL at all.
2) Those who knows SQL little but want to learn more but quick and easy way.
3) Those who do want to know what SQL can do can not do.

This book is highly recommended. It teaches you quickly and easily. This book do not claim that they will make you mater in two days but they do teach you everything they can and quick and easy way. This book does provide some good references and covers all the quick points about SQL. I have really read this book in weekend and I learn myself from the point where this books ends.

Pinal Dave (Macromedia Certified Advanced ColdFusion MX Developer)

The book offers to show you all sorts of querys, stored procedures, rules, and in general the T-SQL language. However, No one ever proof read the book to see if the formulas worked. I've spent so much time "De-bugging the examples" I tossed the book out. Makes you wonder what the other reviewers were looking at. What a waste!