Rating: 
Summary: Thank You
Review: Thank you for your kind reviews. I hope you have as much fun working with SQL Server as I do. If you're a SQL Server DBA, developer, or architect, I have two suggestions;
First, join your local Profession Association for SQL Server (SQLPASS.org) chapter. The SQL Server community is a growing and positive group.
Second, after you've read my book, continue learning. I highy recommend these books:
* Inside SQL Server by Kalen Delany
* Hitchhiker's Guide to Reporting Services by Bill Vaughn
* Microsoft SQL Server 2005 New Features by Michael Otey
I hope to meet you at MS TECH ED, or a SQL PASS Summit.
may all your queries run swift and true,
-Paul Nielsen, SQL Server MVP
p.s. I would have preferred to not rate my own book, but the Rating column has a NOT NULL constraint.
Rating:
Summary: Outstanding Piece Of Work.
Review: The best yet I have read on SQL server.The author strings you along making you consume pages without knowing it. He is very knowledgeable hightlighting good and bad practices and fundamental points critical to the survival of the server.
The volume should not discourage you it is full of meat
Rating:
Summary: Chapter highlights
Review: The entire book is fantastic, but the specific chapters that have helped me in daily work with SQL Server are:
Chapter 5: starting at "Understanding Indexes", p 149 thru the end of the chapter.
also, chapter 28, "A Balanced Index Strategy" (p768-777)
Chapter 7: the WHOLE chapter!
Chapter 11: "Transactional Integrity" (p337-349)
Chapter 18: the WHOLE chapter
Chapter 26: "Recovery Models" (p688-693)
Rating:
Summary: WOW, you can do that with a query?
Review: This book is GREAT!! This book has it all, but I was mostly impressed with all the SQL samples that show creative set-based solutions. This book shows tons of ways to use joins and subqueries to perform tasks usually performed by cursors. A GREAT addition to your library!
Rating:
Summary: From tactial to practical
Review: This books reads like having a conversation with an old friend.
Nielsen is not afraid to sometimes wax philosophical, "staying current in the software industry is like river rafting" (p. 8). But he also gives practical advice, "If the user says that the object will always have a fixed number of related objects, just nod, say "I understand," and design for infinity anyway (p. 39).
It's not an A-Z list of commands, although you can find that in the index.
He goes from defining 1st Normal Form to some pretty complex ideas such as the Object-Oriented Database (OODBMS) mentioned on page 54. The CD includes real-life designs - the Material Specifications database.
I think it's a catch-all for everything he's ever learned about SQL Server, and then some.
Page 81 gives a great tip for speeding up MS Access forms.
There are many "Best Practice" icons scattered throughout.
Rating:
Summary: Great resource
Review: This is a brilliant book, easy to assimilate and quick to progress through.
If you are new to SQL it tells you all the background you need to know, if you have done any programming previously you will find it easy to use and really informative. My copy has post-it-notes sticking out of the top with useful hints written on them. It has really enthused me.
It has great sections for the DBA too, tips on improving performance and security etc.
Truly Fabulous, I love it!
Rating: 
Summary: Great book, poor index
Review: This is a great book. It's throughout and easy to read. Every time I've turned to it, it has the information I need.Unfortunately, it is plagued by a poor index. Even the most basic SQL is missing from the index. For example, if you are interested in the TOP clause, you won't find it between "tools, developer" and "torn-page detection". Instead you need to look under "Select statement, rows, return few (top keyword)". With a better index, this book would be more than a great learning tool, but a great reference tool too.
Rating:
Summary: Great Best Practices
Review: Used the Best Practices within the work environment. Great to have a guideline from which to work from. Most books say you can do 6 of one half a dozen of another, but not recommend the best approach. I like that the author goes out on a limb to make these "Best Practices".
Rating:
Summary: Easily one of the best books on the planet.
Review: You don't read this book, you EXAMINE it. The density of information in it's pages is incredible. The accuracy of it's sentences is absolute, and every sentence is fully relavant. And on top of that, Paul's gifted writing style makes the concepts absorbing. What more could one ask for? I was new to SQL server, and though I'm far from done with this book, the amount I have learned so far has given me a very satisfied feeling. Through understanding, this book is forming the very framework of how I think about SQL Server.
The SQL Server 2000 Bible, don't you dare leave home without it!
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