Microsoft SQL Server 2000 Weekend Crash Course

Rating:
Summary: 'Tis Worth The Buck!
Review: A good book. Definitely took me longer than 3 days to get through it,
but I was off to a good start from the beginning. The chapter on Transact-SQL could be better
and I am not sure why would I need Replication - for now; but again this is "jack-of-all-trades"  kind of a book
Worth its money, in short.

Rating:
Summary: Dire
Review: As a SQL Server DBA of over seven years, I looked over this book when a friend was looking to get up to speed on SQL Server. Unfortunately I cannot recommend it, as it was full of errors, which the accompanying website does nothing to correct. It simply skims over the surface of what you need to know as a DBA, omitting important details which a serious DBA should be aware of. A developer who's never used SQL Server might find this of passing interest to get an overview, but don't be lulled into thinking that you'll be even partly useful as a SQL Server DBA after reading this - you won't. It's way too lightweight to recommend as a serious publication - and why it covers triggers by part 3 is anyone's guess.
I'd more strongly recommend something like the SAMS 'Teach Yourself SQL Server 2000 in 21 Days' book, which is definitely much better value for money if you're serious and much better than the online SQL Server documentation for beginners. Not recommended.

Rating:
Summary: Highly recommended
Review: Highly recommended. The book goes easy on you,and it does not assume any previous knowledge on your part.It will not make you an accomplished DBA over a weekend, but I recommend it as a olid introduction.Material is well organized and presented, with a fair portion of typos and slips :)I did not encounter any installation problems reported from Colorado: no key was ever required (maybe they print special edition for Boulder, CO?). Nevertheless, I do recommend downloading trial version from Microsoft, as it contains the latest fixes (the book was published in 2001, after all).

Rating:
Summary: Great start
Review: I am a certified system administrator and I never had the time to study SQL. Finally I decided to sit down and learn ,I ordered a few books trying to build a nice and gradual study course. The book I satrted with is the Weekend Crash Course. I am very happy to say that I found a book that explains basics with good examples thus giving me a smooth start...What I like about this book is that on one hand it doesn't intimidate you as a newbie to a system that is obviously huge and on the other hand it provides you with an adequete level of knowledge to feel that you have gained knowledge.

Rating:
Summary: for beginners
Review: I just want to comment on another reviewer (Dire). Stop bragging
that you're a dba and the book even didn't tell that this is for
experienced users like u. Dire, are there any crash course book for dbas like you.

Rating:
Summary: Excellent book for beginners and intermediate level users!!!
Review: I really enjoyed reading the book. Easy to understand, hands on approach and SQL Server 2000 trial edition is included - all I needed to get a jump start.

Rating:
Summary: Lots of errors/mistakes
Review: I would not recommend this book. It barely skims the surface of what you really need to know to become proficient with SQL Server 2000. The book also contains numerous, and I mean numerous, typos, mistakes and incorrect code that will not work.

Rating:
Summary: Lots of errors/mistakes
Review: I would not recommend this book. It barely skims the surface of what you really need to know to become proficient with SQL Server 2000. The book also contains numerous, and I mean numerous, typos, mistakes and incorrect code that will not work.

Rating:
Summary: Good Writing but Eee Gads the Errors
Review: I'd recommend this book as a very quick, well written introduction or review of SQL Server. My only reservation is that the sample code is full of errors!! (typos, etc.) No use going to the publisher's website, since they don't publish corrections online (too much trouble, I guess.)

Rating:
Summary: Great SQL Server 2000 Overview
Review: If you are looking for a book that will provide overview of SQL Server 2000 without diving into too many details - This is the book for you!
This book glances through all the main features of SQL Server 2000, providing a very good introduction to all of them. SQL Server 2000 is a very complex, feature rich product. This book does a wonderful job of explaining the various features with out going to too many details that 99% of the users will not need anyway.
I especially liked the sections about performance tuning, optimizations and automating administration tasks that provide easy to understand information about those advanced SQL Server features.
If you are a full time job SQL Server DBA, you will probably want a more in depth book. All other SQL Server users - Go get this book!