SQL Server 2008 Transact-SQL Recipes (Books for Professionals by Professionals) [Paperback]

Joseph Sack (Author)

Book Description

Series: Books for Professionals by Professionals | Publication Date: July 25, 2008

Without Transact-SQL, there is nothing. Developers and database administrators using Microsoft SQL Server 2008 are highly-motivated to learn Transact-SQL, because that language enables them to store and retrieve data, to move business logic into the database, and to interface with advanced SQL Server features. The recipe format facilitates just-in-time learning, showing readers immediately how to perform their assigned tasks, and is sure to be a hit with today's busy professional.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Joseph Sack has been working as a SQL Server professional for the last 10 years and is the author of "SQL Server 2000 Fast Answers" and "SQL Server 2005 T-SQL Recipes." He currently works for Microsoft as a Dedicated Support Engineer in the Premier Field Engineering team, working with retail sector customers in the Twin Cities.

Product Details

• Paperback: 872 pages
• Publisher: Apress; 1 edition (July 25, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1590599802
• ISBN-13: 978-1590599808
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 7 x 1.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #383,238 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

I've worked as a SQL Server professional since 1997 and I work for Microsoft as a Dedicated Support Engineer in the Premier Field Engineering team, working with retail sector customers in the Twin Cities. I'm the author of 'SQL Server 2000 Fast Answers', 'SQL Server 2005 T-SQL Recipes' and "SQL Server 2008 Transact-SQL Recipes."

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

17 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Transact-SQL Recipes ROCK!, August 31, 2008

By 

Jimmy May "@aspiringgeek" (Redmond, WA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: SQL Server 2008 Transact-SQL Recipes (Books for Professionals by Professionals) (Paperback)

This book is among the finest works on SQL Server which I've ever read. Joseph Sack has a well-deserved reputation for quality writing, yet I'm frankly more impressed than I expected to be. I've read many of his articles & the previous edition of this book has long been one of my favorites.

This latest-&-greatest edition, SQL Server 2008 Transact-SQL Recipes, has lots of new material & is his best yet. Joe's writing style is clear, concise, & comprehensive. The approach is unique, the chapter sections flow logically from one to anothter, yet they are written in independent vignettes for byte-sized consumption. His examples allow us to play along at home. They are accompanied by lucid explanations. The book doesn't stoop to copying code, but instead relies on unique examples followed by my favorite feature of all: "How It Works" in which the concepts are characterized in plain English. You'll enjoy it, too.

If it can be done in Transact-SQL, Joe teaches us not merely how it's done, but how it's done right. Topics run the gamut from fundamental concepts such as interrogating tables, creating views, defining indexes, & writing stored procedures, triggers, & functions, to more complex topics such as error handling & principals to newer constructions such as XML, Service Broker, CLR, spatial data, encryption, & auditing--& much more.

I used the book as my primary resource to study successfully for 70-441 & 70-442 (MCITP: DB Dev). I recommend it to all my customers. If you're a SQL Server DBA or a developer, I recommend this book is for you as well.


Jimmy May
Microsoft Sr. Performance Consultant: SQL Server
SQL Server Pros, Founder & Visionary-in-Chief
Indianapolis Professional Association for SQL Server, Founder & Executive Committee

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A good SQL Server Reference Book, June 4, 2010

By 

Sudheer K. Maharana - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: SQL Server 2008 Transact-SQL Recipes (Books for Professionals by Professionals) (Paperback)

I read and review lot of SQL Server books. Almost every other book on SQL Server has something new or explaining same features in a different way. I ordered this book being drawn to the title of this book. This book is written by one of the SQL Premier Field Support Engineers from Microsoft. It is nicely laid out and definitely different from other books in explaining SQL Server features. The best thing about this book is "How it Works" sections. For most of the part, the author has done a good job for these sections in describing the internals of each of the features. However, I did find the explanation to some extent short for some important features such as Service Broker, Encryption, Database Snapshots and Query Hints. Especially, I was looking for some internal information on Service Broker.
It is definitely worthwhile to spend some time in reading this book. I would rate this book a 4 star.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A very good reference for SQL Server 2008 Transact-SQL, September 19, 2011

By 

Rajkumar Ramasamy "Rajkumar Ramasamy" (Monrovia, CA, USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: SQL Server 2008 Transact-SQL Recipes (Books for Professionals by Professionals) (Paperback)

A very good book to become an efficient DB developer. The book begins by refreshing your basic SQL knowledge with all various day to day scripts such as select, creating Table, creating Index, and views. Then in the later chapters, the author explains about conditional processing which helped me a lot to write conditional scripts or use conditional flows in my scripts.

Another good think I like about this book is the Chapter 14 which explains how to use XML in Database like Creating, Validating and Indexing XML data. the explanation is so simple and clear. In later chapters, the details on Error handling and service brokers are good but not very detailed. But there is good enough information to understand what they are and how they work.

At the end there are some good information for a DB developer might need to know such as Linked servers, Mirroring, little performance tuning and snapshot and full backup and recovery. Overall, I really enjoyed reading this book. not just enjoyed, I learned a lot from this book. Thanks to the author. I would recommend this book to all my friends and DB learners. 5 star...