Microsoft SQL Server 2005: Database Essentials

Step by Step Tutorial for New Database Programmers

Review by SQL-Server-Performance.com

Microsoft SQL Server 2005: Database Essentials
By Solid Quality Learning
306 pages. Microsoft Press. $39.99.

To deliver data from a database to users via an application you need the following:

• A database system.
• A database.
• A data model.
• Knowledge in the programming language of the database.
• Knowledge in the programming language of the client application.
• Time.

Typically, all but the last item are present. So you need to be proficient in the first five points on the list or be able to acquire that knowledge in a very timely manner. Otherwise, you could find yourself having to dedicate more time than you care to.

Many voluminous books have been written on each of the points above. In some of them, the foreword and the introduction alone are nearly as long as this book, which including the index has about 300 pages. In this limited space, the authors of Microsoft SQL Server 2005: Database Essentials try to communicate the basic knowledge that a database developer must have. In other words, you should take the title of the book literally.

Table of Contents:

• Introduction to Database Development with Microsoft SQL Server 2005
• Installing and Setting Up Your Microsoft SQL Server 2005 Development Environment
• Reviewing Microsoft SQL Server 2005 Management Tools
• Gathering and Understanding Business Requirements before Creating Database Objects
• Designing a Database to Solve Business Needs
• Reading Microsoft SQL Server 2005 Data from Client Applications
• Selecting the Data you Need
• Creating Views to Encapsulate Queries
• Retrieving Data Using Programmable Objects
• Inserting Data in Microsoft SQL Server 2005
• Deleting Data from Microsoft SQL Server 2005
• Updating Data from Microsoft SQL Server 2005

Database Essentials is a good at explaining in 300 pages the stuff other authors take many more pages to do. And it lives up to its claim that nothing but the mere basics should be explained. Chances are it will suit your needs.