Microsoft SQL Server 2000 Development from Scratch

Microsoft SQL Server 2000 Database Development from Scratch
By Rob Hawthorne
Copyright 2001
Que Publishing

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Get out your long forgotten secret decoder ring, as you will find it handy when reading this new book on SQL Server 2000 development. In this book, you will learn how to design, create, develop, and manage a database application you can use to manage your own private spy network. No, this book isn’t about spying, but throughout the book the author uses an example of a spy network as you learn the basics of SQL Server development, making the examples in this book a little more interesting than the run-of-the-mill examples we normally see in SQL Server books.

Contrary to its name, this book attempts to teach people new to SQL Server 2000 the basics of both database development and administration. It hand-holds you through the entire process of database application development, starting with the original design, all the way through the development of a web-based front-end. It also shows you how to manage your databases once they are in production. If you are not into web development, don’t let this both you. The section on web development is minor. For the most part, the author focuses on SQL Server.

At only 476 pages, the book can’t cover everything there is to know about SQL Server 2000 development and administration. Most really good SQL Server development and administration books I am familiar with run well over 1,000 pages each. So as you might imagine, this book is best described as a brief introduction for people new to SQL Server development and administration.

Here’s the topics you will read about in this book:

• Taking Spy Net from Idea to SQL Server Database

• The Tools of SQL Server 2000 for Managing an Instance

• Making Virtual Spies – Creating Sly Net in SQL Server 2000

• Manipulating Data with Transact-SQL

• Pushing the Boundaries of Our DDL Knowledge to View and Update Data

• Getting Clear Results with Functions

• Securing Data Entry with Custom Rules and Defaults

• Ensuring Data Consistency with Transactions, Locks, and Error Trapping

• Implementing Security in Spy Net

• Ensuring Data Availability

• Administering Spy Net

• Designing a Front End to Support Our SQLSpyNet Database

• Putting All the Pieces Together

• Troubleshooting and Debugging in SQL Server 2000

• Exploring SQL Server 2000 on Your Own

From a performance perspective, the book spends little time on performance-related issues. Since this is a beginner’s book on development, and since database application performance is often won or lost during the early design and development stages, I would have liked to seen more performance-related information.

I recommend this book for SQL Server novices who don’t want to be overwhelmed with too much information on a new subject all at once, and perhaps for DBAs who don’t know much about the development side of SQL Server, but who want to get their feet wet without having to read a 1,000 page book.