Comments about oreilly Microsoft® SQL Server® 2008 T-SQL Fundamentals:

I thought it was very well written and especially liked chapter 3 that covers joins, and chapter 7 that covers PIVOT. If you become a DBA chances are you will use most of the basics that are taught here on a day to day basis.

Comments about oreilly Microsoft® SQL Server® 2008 T-SQL Fundamentals:

I used this book to brush on my old T-SQL skills.
Clean and concise explainations.
Great examples and hands on problems with answers to do.

What wasn't great... I didn't get meet the author in person. Would love to meet him!

Comments about oreilly Microsoft® SQL Server® 2008 T-SQL Fundamentals:

This eBook was provide to me by the San Diego Tech Immersion Group.

Overview
T-SQL Fundamentals is an excellent book. The text is direct and easy to understand. Complex subjects are conveyed well. The organization is clear and logical. I highly recommend this book.

Comments on Organization
• This book is a "good read" straight through. Subjects are presented in a logical sequence.
• It is also a good reference book. Specific information is easy to find and can be read out of context.
• I like the mixture of theory and command references. I have another T-SQL book that basically just lists the commands and their options. But that presentation is very dry and does not invite the reader to greater understanding
• The examples help illuminate the descriptive text. It is often easier to understand via an example.
• I found the exercises beneficial in cementing my understanding.
• I loved the practical tips and tricks provided. I employed two of those tricks straight away
o Computing First and last day of a month
 I used this trick in an SSIS job to transfer data on a monthly basis without ever needing to specify date parameters
o Cross-Join to normalize related data columns (e.g. phone1, phone2, phone3)
 We have several occurrences of such column groupings
 I was able to create several views to present the data in a normalized fashion as appropriate for some applications

Content I Enjoyed
• Background to T-SQL Querying and Programming
o This introductory section provides a great background
o I particularly enjoyed the section about Set Theory.
• Elements of the SELECT Statement in Single-Table Queries
o This section helps explain why T-SQL behaves the way it does and why it has certain limitations.
• Pivot & Unpivot
o These commands still seem kind of clunky to me
o But at least I understand them better
• Set Operations
o I usually only deal with basic operations like union
o Good to know that there are several other operations available out of the box

Content Lacking from My Perspective
• I wished there had been more coverage of User-defined Functions and Stored Procedures
o There are short sections on both in Chapter 10
o But we use SPs and UDFs extensively in our environment
o I would have appreciated more tips and tricks, usage examples, limitations & gotchas, workarounds, etc.
• I would have liked to see more information about database tuning and monitoring
o More about setting up indices and key relationships
o More about monitoring tools
o More about debugging tools available
• More details about working with SQL Server Management Studio would have been helpful
o I realize that not all database developers use SSMS
o But, I know that it has many capabilities of which I am unaware.