SQL Server 2000: A Beginner's Guide (Book/CD-ROM) (Paperback)

by Dusan Petkovic (Author) "MS SQL Server is a database management system (DBMS) developed and marketed by Microsoft..." (more)
Key Phrases: emp frame, employee enh, enh table, Enterprise Manager, Beginner's Guide, Query Analyzer (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description
Build and manage SQL Server 2000 databases easily. Work with Transact-SQL and data definition language, and handle simple and complex queries. You'll also learn to use SQL extensions and stored procedures, views, triggers, and transactions.

From the Back Cover
Your one-stop solution for getting up and running with SQL Server 2000

Develop and deploy large-scale applications with SQL Server 2000. In this book, database expert Dusan Petkovic explains how to use all the features of this powerful, scaleable relational database management system. You'll learn to configure SQL Server 2000, use T-SQL, execute efficient database queries, and enable secure transactions. Troubleshooting, data warehousing, and optimization are also covered. You'll find complete details on Microsoft Analysis Services, managing multiple servers, maximizing uptime, and performance tuning. With SQL Server 2000: A Beginner's Guide, your mission-critical database applications will be up-and-running in no time!

Learn to:

• Setup, manage, and customize SQL Server 2000
• Administer multiple instances of SQL Server 2000 using the SQL Server Enterprise Manager
• Perform simple and complex database queries
• Tune the performance of your SELECT statements
• Use SQL extensions, stored procedures, transactions, views, and triggers
• Implement the SQL Server 2000 security model
• Find and fix database problems by capturing and replaying server activity
• Import, export, and transform data types using DTS
• Construct data warehouses to collect, organize, and distribute information efficiently

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Product Details

• Paperback: 608 pages
• Publisher: McGraw-Hill Osborne Media; 2 edition (September 28, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 007212587X
• ISBN-13: 978-0072125870
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 7.2 x 1.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 2.8 out of 5 stars See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #314,461 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

44 of 45 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars A Decent But Uninspiring Guide to SQL Server 2000, October 16, 2000

By	Thomas E. Denham (Alpharetta, GA USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This book provides a solid, useful introduction to SQL Server 2000. The coverage is comprehensive and informative. The writing is mostly clear and accessible though I was unable to understand a few points that the author covered. Very few books attempt to cover the Transact-SQL language, database concepts, and server administration in one volume and this one does it fairly successfully.

You have to be pretty determined to make it through this book. The author covers a lot of ground and I did not find it to be particularly engaging. I coaxed myself through by reading chapters from the section on system administration in parallel with the earlier chapters on SQL language, syntax, and queries that were pretty dry. I didn't want to skip anything because I did not want to miss any of the new features of SQL 2000.

It is clear from this book that the big change between SQL Server versions was between 6.5 and 7.0. The continuity between 7.0 and 2000 stood out in this reading. There are significant changes - from data types to syntax to utilities and more, but for those who are familiar with 7.0 the latest version will feel pretty comfortable.

I rated the 7.0 version of this book 4 stars and this one 3 stars. Actually the book is about as good as the previous one but I have read a lot of SQL Server books since then and my expectations have risen. This isn't a bad book but it is among the dullest treatments I have encountered.

Is this a good book for beginners? Yes. Many readers want a one-volume source and this one meets that need. If you want to learn SQL Server this book offers the basic education you need. A few sections will make no sense to a beginner. They made little sense to me and I'm not a beginner anymore. But if you keep at it by the end you will have a good general understanding and ability with SQL Server 2000.

I picked up this book to prepare for Microsoft's beta exam on SQL Server 2000. Pre-test I think it does a pretty good job of covering material. While I found it boring I appreciated the review of Transact-SQL. I spend more time troubleshooting problems than writing scripts so I had gotten a little rusty. A reader who is up to speed on SQL Server basics might skip over the first two sections of the book to concentrate on the sections that deal with system administration, analysis services, full-text search, and XML support where more new stuff is introduced. What is new in the first two sections is very minor.

42 of 43 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Not for a *complete* beginner, need some DB experience, March 26, 2002

By	David Smith (OH, United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Definitely not for the complete beginner. If you have an idea about what a database is and what you want out of your database then this is a great book. My experience with databases is fairly minimal, but I had some experience prior to reading this book because I built a web application that used Access on the back end. I understood database structure and had a context to read the book, so when I would read about something I would think to myself how I could use that information. Without this frame of reference, I would have been lost and this book would have been abysmal.

That said, for me this book was an excellent read. I LOVED this book. I found no significant errors in the book (a small typo here or there). I used it to prepare for the Microsoft class on Desiging and Imlementing a Database Design using SQL Server 2000. I am a network engineer by trade and was afraid that I would be left behind in this class, so I needed to get up to speed quickly. This book provided huge amounts of clear and concise information to me in a very short time, and in the class I was probably the most knowledgeable student (not bad for a network engineer in a room full of DBAs and web programmers). In fact, there were multiple occasions where the information I learned in this book let me answer questions in the class that the instructor could not, and I also pointed out several instances where my instructor was just plain wrong. In summary, if you have some sort of database experience using a different product, this will get you up to speed very quickly on the vast majority of the aspects of SQL Server 2000. I commend the author on his writing style. I would have given it 5 stars if the audience for the book was more clearly defined by the title or the back page.

19 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Truely for beginners, April 12, 2004

By	Linda Rae Williams "Rae" (Central Maryland, United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

So, the boss called me up one day and said, "Your team has to learn SQL Server 2000." I said, "How long do we have?" She answered, "How fast can you do it?" After tooling around the store, I chose this book and we bought three copies. In one week, we were all functional in SQL Server (with background in SQL and relational databases already there). That's a good deal.

So, I recommended it to others in our company who need to learn more about relational databases, or more about SQL or more about SQL Server 2000. The experience has been universally good. It may not be deep (my only downgrade) but it is specific.

I think the author managed to give just enough explanation about relational databases without going too deep. As a data purist, I might argue that more is better on this subject. However, I am responsible for training one group that does the same SQL over and over again, and that makes me aware that not everyone has to reach genius level on data.

Good job!