Customer Reviews:
Showing reviews 1-5 of 12
 Quirky Terms all around September 17, 2009
TP_FAN (New York, NY USA)
2 out of 3 found this review helpful
I am not new to T-SQL, got this book for picking up some missing parts of the language that I am not familiar with
Frankly, I dont like the presentation/writing style of this book, for
1. Guess english is not authors first language.
2. This book uses quite some quirky terms( invented by authors himself) that haven't been used elsewhere but this book, such as "Logical Precedence Among rows". If you google "Logical Precedence", all the pages will refer to things about this guy..What the hell?? these awkward terms make some of the simple ideas more difficult to get.
3. Basically, T-SQL is based on ANSI SQL, and SQL itself is based on relational algebra as well as semantics of your business requirements. This book talks too much about syntax details of in microscope level, while too little on how to interpret the business demands in elegant T-SQL. i.e. how to map it into algebra equation.
This book separates join and intersection things into 2 chapters, which might not seem to be necessary for my part.
Hardly can say this book is enjoyable to read, but its OK for a T-SQL supplement.
 Lives up to the title - best book I've found on SQL Fundamentals September 13, 2009
T. Walters (Colorado, USA)
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
I'm not a SQL programmer or DBA. I use SQL to query databases and write reports in SSRS (Microsoft SQL Server Reporting Services). I was looking for a book that would explain SQL fundamentals in a user-friendly manner and this is it. Mr. Itzik Ben-Gan writes like a teacher, not a technician. He gives you the technical details followed by real life explanation, with code and results; that a non-tech can understand. This book gives you the foundation you need to expand your SQL knowledge.
Should you buy it if you are using SQL 2005? Yes, even though 2008 is in the title, Mr. Ben-Gan covers both SQL versions, explaining differences between the versions.
 Incorrect description August 5, 2009
Alexander Weitzer
2 out of 3 found this review helpful
Contrary to the description, this is not the Pro-Developer title. the correct PRO-Developer title is:
Inside Microsoft® SQL Server® 2008: T-SQL Querying
If you want the best intro to sql around, this is the book for you. If you want to take your sql to the next level, click on the link above.
Don't order the wrong title (like I did)
Well-written book on T-SQL July 4, 2009
Pat in Georgia
This book not only covers the how of T-SQL but also the why. Ben-Gan does a good job explaining the theory behind the basic T-SQL Commands. Great book for beginners or intermediate SQL users. The explanations are clear and to the point. Each chapter has exercises to help reinforce what you just read. The solutions are also in the book, so this book is complete without having to download anything from the web.
MS SQL Server 2008: T-SQL Fundamentals June 16, 2009
Ryan C. Fox (Richmond, KY USA)
6 out of 6 found this review helpful
This book is excellent. I began reading this book with a limited knowledge of SQL picked up from basic trial and error coding. Most of the time I did not know why or how something worked, only that it did work or in many cases did not work without hours of revision. After reading this book I now have a very good understanding of how code should work and why.
Itzik Ben-Gan is a wonderful author, who really understands how to teach a subject. Instead of just throwing code out there at you for a specific result, he often goes through it line by line letting you know exactly what each step is accomplishing. One of the greatest things about this book is the time taken to emphasize the order in which things are processed in SQL Server. This may seem trivial, but after knowing this I can honestly say 90% of the coding errors I ever suffered where due to not knowing the processing order.
The bottom line is, I would recommend this book to anyone who is interested in knowing T-SQL.
Showing reviews 1-5 of 12
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