Absolutely Brilliant!
Rating:
5 / 5
I found The Guru's Guide to be one of the best computer books I've ever had the privilege to read. It is not just another computer book. It's a deep, insightful, provocative treatise on the language, and I'll be using it for years to come. I think these parts deserve special mention:* Quotes: each chapter begins with a thoughtful quote. These quotes have a lot to say about the industry as well as learning T-SQL. I think they add a special 'spice' to the book. * P&T chapter: the chapter on performance and tuning is worthy of its own book. It's a catalog of all the things you can do to speed up your code. * Undocumented chapter: the secrets revealed by this chapter are true gems. I'm already using many of them. * Cursors chapter: I liked the story from the trenches about the conversion. I can empathize with the author. It can be frustrating to work with poor developers. Overall, I'd say this is the best investment you can make with your SQL Server dollar. I like this book even better than Inside SQL Server, which is saying something.
The ultimate Transact-SQL magnum opus
Rating:
5 / 5
Because it was called a "Guru's Guide" I didn't know whether this book expected me to already be a guru or whether it was claiming that it was written by one. Luckily for me, it was the latter. Myself, I'm relatively new to Transact-SQL. When I got this book, I very much considered myself a beginner. I'd only begun working in T-SQL about a year and a half ago. I can honestly say that this book was so full of great information that I began moving to the next level almost immediately. The author pulls no punches and delivers on his committment to avoid filler material throughout. This is a dense, gem-packed treatise on the language that belongs in the library of every would-be Transact-SQL expert. Favorite parts: - Cursor chapter (the story of the ill-fated SQL Server conversion is priceless -- I have been there, I have been there...) - Performance & Tuning chapter (could be a book unto itself) - Undocumented T-SQL chapter (because I like hidden goodies) - Preface (because it's honest) If you want to be a Transact-SQL coder or DBA worth your money, get this book and learn its many secrets inside out.
Requires newer versions
Rating:
4 / 5
My company has a mix of SQL Svr 6.5, 7.0, and 2000 servers. Unfortunately, much of the code in this book is not portable across the three versions - it requires at least 7.0 if not 2000. Probably half of it will not run on 6.5. Our corp dev standards require T-SQL that runs on all three, so we couldn't use some of the code in the book.Other than that the book is very good. I had to turn quoted_identifer off to run some of the scripts, but they all run on 7.0 and 2000 just fine. Not only that but they teach a lot of the new features and secrets of using the language. How to write system-level code and how to use undocumented features. We're using the array code in two of our systems as I speak. I'm not saying that requiring SQL Svr 7.0/2000 is a fundamental weakness but it's why I can't give the book 5 stars. If you are on 7.0 or later and want to write high-quality, speedy, professional code, this is the book to have. If you need code that is portable back to 6.5 I would suggest Klein's book instead.
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