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Rating: 
Summary: Forget the Exam If You ONLY Read This Book
Review: I am a programmer with extensive experienc in programming SQL Server 6.5 - 2K. I was so comfortable while reading this book and thought this exam could be a history in a week. Luckly, I also purchased a on-line practice exam from a vendor recommanded by Microsoft and realized that it will be a long battle. I eventually passed my exam on my first try even though I had really low score and totaly failed on Maintaining a Database part. All you need is the on-line practice exam because the book online, which comes with SQL Server installation should be sufficient. Of course, the on-line practice exam is no where closed to the real exam, also. At least, the format is really close. My recommandation is to study the SQL administeration exam guide first if you are a programmer. There are a lot of questiions which are not programmer friendly and I still have no idea what were the answers for the database maintenance part. Finally, I do not think this is a good choice for MCSD.
Rating: 
Summary: Poor Choice for exam, NOT recommended
Review: I bought this book to help prepare for 70-029. The test questions that come with the book are nothing like the real thing. The test questions on the exam are long and complex. They pose many life like situations that might be encounted as a DBA. This book does nothing to prepare you for those types of questions. I think this book would be helpful for someone trying to understand some of the basics behind SQL Server but having taken the test and used this book as one of my study guides, I will not buy another book from this company that is a "study guide".
Rating:
Summary: Too many errors and typos, and just plain wrong info
Review: I had to force myself to even get through the first five chapters to see if it would get any better (it didn't!). I've done SQL on various platforms for over 10 years and am MCSE certified on MS SQL 6.5, and this book is horrible! For example, they confuse "row" with "column", and don't seem to know what "dynamic sql" is! The practice exam on the CD has 195 questions -- I gave up after question #60 because 10% of their answers were wrong, or at best amgibuous.
Rating:
Summary: Not advisable to purchase.
Review: I read three chapters and practise through the test questions, and start wondering "Can the exam be so simple ??" This book is too brief, too simple, and the question does not prepare you for the "real-life" questions in a real test.
Rating:
Summary: Forget the Exam If You ONLY Read This Book
Review: The title says alot, it is a study guide, and effective at that. It is not a full course on SQL Server Database Design. You must have a previous understanding of databases, and have the software to practice with. Sure, there are some slight errors, but they are obvious typos, and should get the brain working. I used this to focus on the subjects to be covered in the exam. Not for the newcomer to SQL Server.
Rating: 
Summary: A good Study Guide
Review: The title says alot, it is a study guide, and effective at that. It is not a full course on SQL Server Database Design. You must have a previous understanding of databases, and have the software to practice with. Sure, there are some slight errors, but they are obvious typos, and should get the brain working. I used this to focus on the subjects to be covered in the exam. Not for the newcomer to SQL Server.
Rating:
Summary: Misleading material
Review: This book does practically nothing to help prepare for the SQL test. The examples are simplistic, the exam questions are nothing like you will see on the actual test, and the information hardly even qualifies this book as a reference. There's a lot to learn for this test. Don't get suckered into thinking that this will help.
Rating:
Summary: OK for review...
Review: This book is average from this series (I have read around 12 others for MCSE, MCDBA and MCSD) and is good for exam preparation. To many of these book reviews complain about the "questions were not like the exam." If anyone thinks they can read one of these books and get certified they need to have their head examined (Okay, I know someone is saying "I did it."). As with any of these certifications, experience is necessary. This book has errors (as do most of the others I have read, and has anyone ever written a bug-free application!?!), try to find them and feel better about your qualifications for doing so. If you have experience in database design and have worked with SQL 7 then this book will allow you to focus on the topic and prepare for the exam. Don't expect to read it and become a SQL7 database design expert having never worked on SQL Server. So, if you don't know what normalization, an ER diagram, RI rules or SQL is then try starting someplace else and work your way towards experience first.
Rating:
Summary: OK for review...
Review: This book is average from this series (I have read around 12 others for MCSE, MCDBA and MCSD) and is good for exam preparation. To many of these book reviews complain about the "questions were not like the exam." If anyone thinks they can read one of these books and get certified they need to have their head examined (Okay, I know someone is saying "I did it."). As with any of these certifications, experience is necessary. This book has errors (as do most of the others I have read, and has anyone ever written a bug-free application!?!), try to find them and feel better about your qualifications for doing so. If you have experience in database design and have worked with SQL 7 then this book will allow you to focus on the topic and prepare for the exam. Don't expect to read it and become a SQL7 database design expert having never worked on SQL Server. So, if you don't know what normalization, an ER diagram, RI rules or SQL is then try starting someplace else and work your way towards experience first.
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