Rating: 
Summary: A solid begining to using Transact SQL
Review: I knew absolutely no T-SQL before reading this book. It did a solid job of covering the basics aspects of T-SQL necessary to write Stored Procedures. The main reason I did not give it 5 stars is that it missed some important, but to my mind, basic aspects of SQL programming. For example, how do you program an SP to check for a version of itself and drop it before creating itself again. If you don't run this check, you will end up with some ugly errors.However, I would strongly recommend this book for anyone with no T-SQL experience.
Rating:
Summary: Challenging and a Wealth of Information
Review: I knew only how to pass a SELECT * statement before obtaining this book. I have since taken a job writing code from what I learned from this book. Not only is their a wealth of information, but the exercises challenge the reader to think "outside the box" and create code using the information learned in the chapter. I would have given this book 5 stars but sections like views were a bit weak. After reading this book definitely pick up The Guru's Guide to Transact SQL.
Rating:
Summary: Challenging and a Wealth of Information
Review: I knew only how to pass a SELECT * statement before obtaining this book. I have since taken a job writing code from what I learned from this book. Not only is their a wealth of information, but the exercises challenge the reader to think "outside the box" and create code using the information learned in the chapter. I would have given this book 5 stars but sections like views were a bit weak. After reading this book definitely pick up The Guru's Guide to Transact SQL.
Rating: 
Summary: Great for any level
Review: I read it cover to cover, which I never do, especially for technical books. It started with the basics and finished with the fun stuff. It has greatly improved my productivity. I read the book in about 10 days.
Rating: 
Summary: Too disorganized for beginners; too basic for everyone else
Review: I really doubt anyone could learn Transact-SQL in 21 days using this book. On the contrary, you could spend 21 months with this one and still not get there. It's disorganized and free-styled to a fault. The topics are all over the place. Also the writing is inconsistent. One minute, it's at 30,000 feet, the next minute, it's on the runway. One minute, the author is talking down to you, the next minute, he's attempting to be your buddy. If you're looking for a quick, systematic introduction to Transact-SQL, keep looking.
Rating:
Summary: A pathetic excuse for a book
Review: I regret wasting my money on this book. It is simultaneously pretentious and banal -- its lone accomplishment as a book. You will not learn Transact-SQL in 21 days or 21 months using this text. It is mostly a reproduction of the vendor documents. You would be much better served to get Inside SQL Server or the Guru's Guide to T-SQL if you want to get your feet wet with Transact-SQL
Rating:
Summary: Not worth the paper to print it
Review: I think I can honestly say that this is the worst technical book I've ever purchased. It's written poorly and covers the subject matter in an illogical and unsystematic manner. There's no way anyone could learn T-SQL in 21 days using this book. A word of advice: don't waste your money.
Rating:
Summary: A great intro to T-SQL
Review: I've recently started using SQL Server at work and I found this to be an excellent introduction to T-SQL. I've learned a number of ways to write better queries and stored procedures and in general gotten a better understanding of SQL Server from reading this, which is what I was hoping for. I had started out with some of the harder, more in-depth books, but they were too much for me as an absolute beginner with SQL Server. I now feel comfortable returning to those thanks to this book. As an introductory text, I thought this was excellent.
Rating:
Summary: Literally a step by step instruction of T-SQL.
Review: If you are a neophyte and in need of help in T-Sql, this is the book for you.
Rating:
Summary: Basically a redeux of the vendor docs
Review: If you're going to write an intro book, the least you can do if feign some kind of a tutorial. All this book does is replicate what's in the vendor electronic documentation. I can't recommend this one.
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