Transact-SQL Cookbook [Paperback]

Ales Spetic (Author), Jonathan Gennick (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 1565927567 | ISBN-13: 978-1565927568 | Publication Date: March 26, 2002 | Edition: 1

This unique cookbook contains a wealth of solutions to problems that SQL programmers face all the time. The recipes inside range from how to perform simple tasks, like importing external data, to ways of handling issues that are more complicated, like set algebra. Authors Ales Spetic and Jonathan Gennick, two authorities with extensive database and SQL programming experience, include a discussion with each recipe to explain the logic and concepts underlying the solution.

SQL (Structured Query Language) is the closest thing to a standard query language that currently exists, and Transact-SQL -- a full-featured programming language that dramatically extends the power of SQL -- is the procedural language of choice for both Microsoft SQL Server and Sybase SQL Server systems. The Transact-SQL Cookbook is designed so you can use the recipes directly, as a source of ideas, or as a way to learn a little more about SQL and what you can do with it. Topics covered include:

• Audit logging. In addition to recipes for implementing an audit log, this chapter also includes recipes for: improving performance where large log tables are involved; supporting multiple-languages; and simulating server push.
• Hierarchies. Recipes show you how to manipulate hierarchical data using Transact-SQL.
• Importing data. This chapter introduces concepts like normalization and recipes useful for working with imported data tables.
• Sets. Recipes demonstrate different operations, such as how to find common elements, summarize the data in a set, and find the element in a set that represents an extreme.
• Statistics. This chapter?s recipes show you how to effectively use SQL for common statistical operations from means and standard deviations to weighted moving averages.
• Temporal data. Recipes demonstrate how to construct queries against time-based data.
• Data Structures. This chapter shows how to manipulate data structures like stacks, queues, matrices, and arrays.

With an abundance of recipes to help you get your job done more efficiently, the Transact-SQL Cookbook is sure to become an essential part of your library.

Editorial Reviews

From the Author

If you have recently learned SQL, then you know what the basic statements are all about. What you need to learn next is how to "think SQL" in order to creatively apply it to the programming problems you encounter in your daily work. This is a hard thing to "teach"; the creative application of SQL is really something you need to learn by example. That's the whole point of this book, to provide examples of SQL being used creatively, and in ways that aren't immediately obvious, to solve everyday problems. You'll be able to apply our patterns to your own work, and you'll no doubt be inspired to discover even more creative solutions of your own. This book isn't just for those who are new to SQL. Even if you're an experienced SQL programmer, you probably haven't seen it all, and we think you'll discover at least one new technique in this book.

About the Author

Ales Spetic, an independent consultant specializing in the design and implementation of financial applications, has been programming in SQL for the past six years. He has a MBA California State University, Hayward.

Jonathan Gennick is an O'Reilly & Associates editor specializing in database and programming titles. Prior to joining O'Reilly, Jonathan amassed some 17 years of programming and database management experience. During the latter part of his career he specialized in relational database programming, and more recently in database management. Jonathan got his start with relational database systems in 1990, first working with Ingres, and later with Digital's Rdb software. During that period he developed a fondness for SQL, and for the challenge of applying SQL creatively in ways that leveraged it's set-oriented capabilities. In 1994 Jonathan made the leap to Oracle, and is now often found writing about it. Recent projects include Oracle SQLLoader (O'Reilly & Associates, 2001); Oracle SQLPlus Pocket Reference (O'Reilly & Associates, 2000); Oracle SQL*Plus: The Definitive Guide (O'Reilly & Associates, 1999); More recently, Jonathan has made forays into other database products, coauthoring Transact-SQL Cookbook (O'Reilly & Associates, 2002) and editing Practical PostgreSQL (O'Reilly & Associates, 2002). Jonathan is certified as an Oracle DBA and is a member of MENSA and the Oracle Technology Network. He holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Information and Computer Science, with a Business Administration minor, from Andrews University in Berrien Springs, Michigan. Jonathan currently resides in Munising, Michigan with his wife Donna and their two children: Jenny and Jeff. Jonathan may be contacted by email at [e-mail], and you can learn more about him personally by visiting his website at http://gennick.com.

Product Details

• Paperback: 304 pages
• Publisher: O'Reilly Media; 1 edition (March 26, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1565927567
• ISBN-13: 978-1565927568
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 7.1 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (15 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,047,656 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

20 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Good (but basic), practical text, April 5, 2002

By 

Nicholas Bennett (Albuquerque, NM United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Transact-SQL Cookbook (Paperback)

Rather than a real-world "cookbook", ostensibly targeted to database professionals who want to avoid reinventing the wheel, this book would be better positioned as a companion to an introductory text on SQL (e.g. for a class on SQL, where the class laboratory work employs SQL Server).

One or two of the chapters do cover problems which baffle a lot of experienced SQL programmers with whom I have worked; a good example is the chapter on the implementation of hierarchical data models.

There is some minimal attention paid to performance implications of alternative query formulations, but very little useful information on practical database and query tuning.

The practical examples are generally good for building the necessary context for the various implementations, but there are some clear gaps in the authors' understanding of the underlying business problems and the conceptual solution techniques. Also, there are some flat-out errors: for example, the explanation (and the implementation) of exponential averaging (more commonly referred to as smoothing) is simply incorrect.

All in all, I would recommend this to someone who is just learning SQL, and is having trouble "getting their head" around how it would be used in practice. For someone already working in the field, an online subscription to SQL Server magazine (giving access to all of the source code for the articles) would be a better investment.

13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A true book for programmers, April 10, 2002

By 

"hans_waldde" (Berlin, Germany) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Transact-SQL Cookbook (Paperback)

This book is everything I was looking for. I bought it on my recent trip to United States. I had a chance to read it on the long flight back to Europe.

I needed a clear and concise book to help me with my MS SQL programming problems. I think I found it. It clearly explains logic behind the code and examples. Other books often mix together a lot of other topics, but not this one. The text is only about coding. No administration or fine-tuning. I think it's a very good book for programmers.

If your interests include administration and other topics for DBA's, this book will be of no help for you. But that's the strength of the book. Just a few hundred pages, but no page is wasted on issues not directly related to coding.

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A very practical guide to T-SQL programming!, June 29, 2002

By 

NV Kondreddi (London, United Kingdom) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Transact-SQL Cookbook (Paperback)

This is a very concise and to-the-point book. It assumes that the user has a basic understanding of T-SQL. So, you won't see any repetition from SQL Server Books Online.

Authors chose very interesting topics, and backed them up with real life scenarios and practical examples. So, every example makes sense.

Book is very easy to read and understand. If you are a beginner T-SQL programmer (or someone coming from a VB or other programming backgrounds), this book helps you get on the right track, as it clearly explains how to think in terms of sets. If you are an intermediate level SQL programmer, you can really use the examples provided in this book and start your journey towards becoming an advanced SQL programmer. For advanced users of SQL, this serves as a great reference.