SQL Server 2000 Stored Procedure Programming

Bought a copy of this over the long weekend, and I'm impressed. I usually judge a book by the amount of error-handling code and debugging info they give you (they almost always are ignored, or only given 5 pages out of 1000).

This book is for the intermediate-to-advanced database developer, and skips over the basics like how to write a SELECT statement. While it does list the available functions in SQL Server, it's not a regurgitation of the on-line help like so many other books (are you listening, MS-Press?)

Here's the table of contents:

1. Introduction
2. Relational Database Concepts and the SQL Server environment
3. Stored Procedure Design Concepts
4. Basic Transact-SQL Programming Constructs
5. Functions
6. Composite Transact-SQL Constructs - Batches, Scripts, and Transactions
7. Debugging and Error Handling
8. Developing Professional Habits
9. Special Types of Procedures
10. Advanced Stored Procedure Programming
11. Interaction with the SQL Server Environment
12. XML Support in SQL Server 2000

It even covers how to write an extended stored-procedure! You also get code to send email from within the database, and how to get the TSQL debugger working.

Order info:
"SQL Server 2000 Stored Procedure Programming"
Dejan Sunderic and Tom Woodhead
Osborne Mcgraw-Hill
ISBN 0-07-212566-7
730 pages

Borders had it for $44.99, UK price is £32.99

 

[joebickley]

Yeah i saw that in a shop and it looked good. I ended up buy a book for novices as i quite clearly am one but thanks for the tip i am about ready for that now

cheers Office automation specialist
Land Rover UK

 

[Geos]

Bookpool.com has the book for $26.95. They are about the least expensive source for Programming books, if you know what you want to buy. The either ship direct or drop ship.

 

[chiph]

Joe -

Glad someone read my review!

When you start writing on-line systems that are expected to be used by thousands of users, you'll find that stored procedures are required in order to reduce the load on the database server (they don't need to be re-parsed and re-compiled on each invocation, like SQL statements embedded in a VB or C++ program). SQL 2000 has a nice wizard that will get you going on stored procedures, but it needs to be tweaked afterwards to add error handling. At a minimum it gets the parameter list in there for you, reducing your typing (always nice).

Chip H.

BTW: Looking forward to test-driving a Freelander next year when the lease on the M-class is up. I saw a ton of them in London earlier this year and I was suprised by the amount of customization people have done to them!