Book Review
SQL Server 2000 XML Distilled
by Kevin Williams, Daryl Barnes, Bryant Likes, and others
Copyright 2002
Curlingstone Publishing
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Find out more about this book, or purchase it, from Amazon.com |
XML, whether we like it or not, is a topic that DBAs and SQL developers must soon learn to master. While SQL Server 2000 has built-in XML-related functionality, it will be the next version of SQL Server that will really bring XML to the forefront for those involved in SQL Server.
But many companies are not waiting until the next version of SQL Server before they make the move to XML, many are doing so today. And to help fulfill the black hole of SQL Server XML knowledge is a new book called SQL Server 2000 XML Distilled. This is not a book for those new to SQL Server or XML, but a book designed for those DBAs and SQL developers who are already familiar with the SQL Server and XML and who want to learn how to make them work together. In other words, this is not a beginner’s book, but a book designed for those who want to get their hands dirty writing SQL Server-based XML applications, including SQL Server web services.
Here’s what the book covers:
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SQL Server, XML, and the DBA
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Architecture and Setup
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Mapping SQL Server to XML
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FOR XML
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URL Queries and Template Queries
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Annotating XML Schemas
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XML Views
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XPath Queries
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Mapping XML to SQL Server
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OPENXML
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Updategrams
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SQLXML Bulk Load
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Programmatic Access with SQLXML
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Web Services in SQL Server 2000
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Case Study: Detecting Web Site Clients
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Case Study: BizTalk Integration
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The Future — Emergent Technologies
One of the best things about this book is that it has been written by people who have actually used SQL Server and XML. It includes useful and practical information, not just a lot of dry talk about XML standards and how wonderful they are. In essence, the book tells you how to use SQL Server XML in the real world, getting down to the details of how to make it work.
While there is no entire chapter devoted to XML and SQL Server performance, there are sections of the book that discuss this often overlooked topic. Just as you develop applications with Transact-SQL, and must consider performance at the very beginning to ensure top performance, the same is true when developing XML-based applications.
If you want to learn how to take advantage of SQL Server 2000’s XML capabilities, I highly recommend this book. If you are brand new to XML, you may want to read a basic primer on XML before reading this book, as this book assumes you already know the basics.
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