McSe Readiness Review Exam 70-029: Designing and Implementing Databases With Microsoft SQL Server 7.0 (Mcse Readiness Review)

Rating:
Summary: If you want to be an MCDBA you need HANDS-ON.
Review: This is a very good book to help you prepare for the 70-029 Designing and Implementing Databases with SQL 7.0 ---IF--- and I stress IF you do the hands-on practice as outlined in the book. If you are looking for a book that will drill you in a similar way that the test is going to then this is not your book. The review questions and practice test questions are nearly identical to each other and very easy if you know your stuff but nowhere near as detailed or "difficult" as the actual test. This book follows the testing objectives point by point and gives you hands-on practice on each objective then offers review questions to solidify your understanding of the topic however, you could do this on your own by printing out the testing objectives from the Microsoft website. The difference is you don't have to think up practice exercises or review on your own. One of the features of this book is the supplemental reading list after each review point which is good reading however, most of the online or downloadable materials have moved so you will have to search for them on the MS website. If you want to use this book as a hands-on preparatory guide and you already have a firm grasp on MS SQL Server 7.0 then it will suffice. If you don't know SQL Server 7.0 and want to learn, this book is no good to you. The best audience for this book is people who know MS SQL 7.0 and want to ensure they have covered all aspects of it before taking the test. This book will not serve as any sort of reference guide before or after taking the test. All in all this is a good book but the 70-029 test is not an easy test and nothing, I mean NOTHING, will prepare you for it but HANDS-ON EXPERIENCE. Do the practice, absorb the supplemental reading which includes the SQL BOL and you will pass. BTW if you don't know what SQL BOL is you will likely fail at least once anyway. ;)

Rating:
Summary: If you want to be an MCDBA you need HANDS-ON.
Review: This is a very good book to help you prepare for the 70-029 Designing and Implementing Databases with SQL 7.0 ---IF--- and I stress IF you do the hands-on practice as outlined in the book. If you are looking for a book that will drill you in a similar way that the test is going to then this is not your book. The review questions and practice test questions are nearly identical to each other and very easy if you know your stuff but nowhere near as detailed or "difficult" as the actual test. This book follows the testing objectives point by point and gives you hands-on practice on each objective then offers review questions to solidify your understanding of the topic however, you could do this on your own by printing out the testing objectives from the Microsoft website. The difference is you don't have to think up practice exercises or review on your own. One of the features of this book is the supplemental reading list after each review point which is good reading however, most of the online or downloadable materials have moved so you will have to search for them on the MS website. If you want to use this book as a hands-on preparatory guide and you already have a firm grasp on MS SQL Server 7.0 then it will suffice. If you don't know SQL Server 7.0 and want to learn, this book is no good to you. The best audience for this book is people who know MS SQL 7.0 and want to ensure they have covered all aspects of it before taking the test. This book will not serve as any sort of reference guide before or after taking the test. All in all this is a good book but the 70-029 test is not an easy test and nothing, I mean NOTHING, will prepare you for it but HANDS-ON EXPERIENCE. Do the practice, absorb the supplemental reading which includes the SQL BOL and you will pass. BTW if you don't know what SQL BOL is you will likely fail at least once anyway. ;)