I started reading this book two days ago and i was totally a novice at programming in SQL. I am now writing JOIN statements that i would never have thought possible and i'm looking forward to going even further while reading this book. It is a great book and easy to follow. I highly recommend this book.

I gave this book 4 stars as it's not intended for a complete novice to Relational Databases, but it still can you get you up and running. Also the book is laid out in a textbook or coursebook type manner so it can be applicable to a teaching setting and not a bulky bible like many SQL references that are out there.

I was looking for a book to refresh my SQL skills and settled on Learning SQL on SQL Server after reading the many positive reviews. It sounded like just what I was looking for. My expectations took a downward turn after working through the first few chapters of the book. While the book is technically competent, the way that SQL is presented is lifeless. Working through the book is a trudge with few pleasant stops on the journey. You will learn SQL if you read through the text and work the exercises, but don't expect to have much fun on the way.

Wow...it is amazing the difference between 2 sites reviews - if you go to O'Reilly's site (yes the publisher) scroed it much lower - you would think you were reading reviews of a different book. This was one of the poorest books I have read in several years - and I really hate saying that as I was *highly* looking forward to this book.

My complaints are:

1. Review questions at the end of each chapter but no answers to the reviews or questions at the end of each chapter - not even online. How do we know if we got them right or not?
2. Huge missing holes of important stuff -- some obvious holes include:
a. Triggers - pretty nice things to know about
b. Procedures
c. Functions (this is about Transact-SQL)
d. Security (at least touch on pre-packaged permission roles)
e. Data locks or anything related to maintaining data integrity
d. error handling

3. Obscure examples that left me scratching my head going "OK, I can see HOW you do this but why would you WANT to?"
4. The phrase "this is beyond the scope of this book" was repeated WAY too many times -- what IS in the scope of the book if not stored procedures and functions, triggers, setting permissions, and other very basic SQL 2005 topics.

There is some good intro to SLQ stuff here well paced and well written -- but it is in NO way money well spent if you are wanting to learn the in's and out's of SQL server 2005.

The back of the book states that it is an "excellent introduction to the SQL language and database concepts" -- but yet the book does not even touch on the subject of database normalization - the very definition of "basic database concept" when talking about RDBS.

I had just finished a "dummies" book that was much more complete and cost half as much.

Just so you know, I don't make a habit of down playing many books -- I love and collect tech books -

I have an extensive library of books (many O'Reilly)
I DID read the entire book cover to cover, while working through the examples in front of my computer

I feel I gave this book a very fair chance and was let down.

Please feel free to correct or address any of my above points if you feel they are in error and I will reconsider this review.

Sorry...but I suggest moving on.

Joe

I only rated it on 1 star instead of two because of the fairly high price. If you can get it cheaper used - go for it...

This is an excellent book. It's well written and provides good code examples for every concept. It is written for users who which to learn SQL on SQL Server 2005; the title of the book says it all!

After reading the book, it felt as if I had completed a university course with lectures, lab work, and homework assignments. So, I estimate I saved $500 and all the time I would have spent in an evening class.

I highly recommend this book. It's one of the best computer books I have read in the last two years.

I am a beginner of database, and the book make the SQL simple to learn.

This is a nice, succinct book on learning SQL using SQL Server 2005. Most of the book is dedicated to teaching SQL basics, not on using or administering SQL Server itself (exactly as the title suggests). However, the first chapter will give you everything you need to know to get SQL Server up and running.

I'm a big fan of the O'Reilly "Learning" books, and like many other books in that series, "Learning SQL on SQL Server 2005" is a great introductory book on its subject. Highly recommended for those who'd like to learn or review the fundamentals of SQL and SQL Server.

SQLAuthority.com Book Review :
Learning SQL on SQL Server 2005 (Learning) [ILLUSTRATED] (Paperback)
by Sikha Bagui, Richard Earp

Short Review:
This books covers simple and complex concept in very easy language with lots of examples. Every beginner can learn a great amount of tips from experienced authors. Whether you are a self-learner, new to databases or in need of SQL refresher, this is good read.

Detail Review:
This book is written by two conceptual strong SQL Server Gurus. SQL Server is growing extremely popular in the area of high-performance data applications. It is very important to learn about new features of SQL Server.

This book truly represents the concept and the motive authors holds while writing the book. The book is written as systematic guide to learning SQL using SQL Server 2005 - a relational and multi-user database.

This book starts with simple SQL concepts of management studio, simple select clauses, creating database and tables from scratch. It starts getting more involving and building difficult concepts on previously addressed easy concepts. Chapters about joins, sub queries, constraints are written with conceptual depth as well as lucid and simple language.

Authors suggest that this book is expected to be used by schools and SQL training organizations. I will add to that this book is for everyone who just wants to enjoy reading about SQL. This book should be read with hands on SQL Server practice. Reader will get most out of this book while doing exercise at the end of the book.

Review questions and exercise at the end of each chapter kept me occupied for long time. Few of them are very simple and few of them I have learned from this book. If you are experienced SQL programmer, I still suggest that you will enjoy reading the review questions. I will list few of those questions here.

When would you use the ROWCOUNT function versus using the WHERE clause?
If you are going to have too many nulls in a column, what would be data type to use?
What is the maximum number of the rows that a self join can produce?
Which function can the WITH TIES option be used with?
Is SELECT INTO allowed in a view? Why or why not?

Not always all the time, everybody wants to learn about difficult subject and in depth analysis. There are few times, when even experienced DBA and developers want to read back to basic concepts. I enjoy reading this book, if you are reader of my blog (www.sqlauthority.com) you will enjoy this book as this book is in agreement of my views of looking at SQL with simple logic but strong concepts.

There are few errors in the book but they are very minor and I was able to catch them easily. Authors seem to have good understanding about ORACLE in addition to SQL Server. That introduced some errors but on good side they are able to unleash few ideas which are not easy for SQL Server DBA to think of.

The chapter I enjoyed most is Joins Versus Subquery. Authors very easily explained their needs and differences. This statement shows the strength of chapter; If information from a table is needed in a result set, then that table can not be buried in a subquery- it must be in the outer query; simple but effective.

I highly recommend this book, if you are interested in learning about SQL in easy way. This book is PERFECT book for beginners and great reference for experience developers.

Rating : 4 and 1/2 stars

In Summary, This is must have book for every SQL student.

Pinal Dave
Principal Database Administrator
(http://www.SQLAuthority.com)

SQLAuthority.com Book Review :
Learning SQL on SQL Server 2005 (Learning) [ILLUSTRATED] (Paperback)
by Sikha Bagui, Richard Earp

Short Review:
This books covers simple and complex concept in very easy language with lots of examples. Every beginner can learn a great amount of tips from experienced authors. Whether you are a self-learner, new to databases or in need of SQL refresher, this is good read.

Detail Review:
This book is written by two conceptual strong SQL Server Gurus. SQL Server is growing extremely popular in the area of high-performance data applications. It is very important to learn about new features of SQL Server.

This book truly represents the concept and the motive authors holds while writing the book. The book is written as systematic guide to learning SQL using SQL Server 2005 - a relational and multi-user database.

This book starts with simple SQL concepts of management studio, simple select clauses, creating database and tables from scratch. It starts getting more involving and building difficult concepts on previously addressed easy concepts. Chapters about joins, sub queries, constraints are written with conceptual depth as well as lucid and simple language.

Authors suggest that this book is expected to be used by schools and SQL training organizations. I will add to that this book is for everyone who just wants to enjoy reading about SQL. This book should be read with hands on SQL Server practice. Reader will get most out of this book while doing exercise at the end of the book.

Review questions and exercise at the end of each chapter kept me occupied for long time. Few of them are very simple and few of them I have learned from this book. If you are experienced SQL programmer, I still suggest that you will enjoy reading the review questions. I will list few of those questions here.

When would you use the ROWCOUNT function versus using the WHERE clause?
If you are going to have too many nulls in a column, what would be data type to use?
What is the maximum number of the rows that a self join can produce?
Which function can the WITH TIES option be used with?
Is SELECT INTO allowed in a view? Why or why not?

Not always all the time, everybody wants to learn about difficult subject and in depth analysis. There are few times, when even experienced DBA and developers want to read back to basic concepts. I enjoy reading this book, if you are reader of my blog (www.sqlauthority.com) you will enjoy this book as this book is in agreement of my views of looking at SQL with simple logic but strong concepts.

There are few errors in the book but they are very minor and I was able to catch them easily. Authors seem to have good understanding about ORACLE in addition to SQL Server. That introduced some errors but on good side they are able to unleash few ideas which are not easy for SQL Server DBA to think of.

The chapter I enjoyed most is Joins Versus Subquery. Authors very easily explained their needs and differences. This statement shows the strength of chapter; If information from a table is needed in a result set, then that table can not be buried in a subquery- it must be in the outer query; simple but effective.

I highly recommend this book, if you are interested in learning about SQL in easy way. This book is PERFECT book for beginners and great reference for experience developers.

Rating : 4 and 1/2 stars

In Summary, This is must have book for every SQL student.

Pinal Dave
Principal Database Administrator
(http://www.SQLAuthority.com)

This is a good introduction to SQL, using SQL Server 2005, but does have some errors. For example, in describing the BIT data type in section 3.4.1.3, the author states "BIT columns cannot be NULL and cannot have indexes on them". It is true that you cannot have indexes on them, but I have used NULLs in bit fields for a long time on SQL 2000, so why would they drop that feature in SQL 2005? After a quick test, and then a google search on that exact string, you'll quickly find that the statement is true for Oracle databases. You'll find the same sentence, verbatim, in Oracle's T-SQL reference.

Having found this kind of error, it does cast a shadow over some of the book. Verify the statements yourself if you question something, especially if it's sepcific to SQL 2005. They may be wrong. Other than that, the reader should be running the queries themselves and verifying the results (ie, learn by doing.)

Other than that, the chapters on Joins, Sets, Functions, and Subqueries to be good introductions, but not going beyond the basics. But this is a LEARNING book, so don't expect much more than the basics.

Are you a student who wishes to learn SQL using Microsoft's SQL Server 2005? If you are, then this book is for you! Authors Richard Earp and Sikha Bagui, have done an outstanding job of writing a systematic guide to learning SQL by using SQL Server 2005--a relational and multiuser database.

Earp and Bagui, begin by showing you how to open SQL Server 2005 using SQL Server Management Studio, load the database, and view and perform simple table manipulations. Then, the authors introduce the user/learner to some basic SQL commands in SQL Server. Next, they discuss creating, populating, altering, and deleting tables. The authors then introduce and cover different types of joins--a common database mechanism for combining tables. They continue by covering SQL Server 2005's functions. Then, the authors discuss query development as well as the use of view and other derived structures. Next, they cover simple set operations. The authors then discuss subqueries, aggregate functions, and correlated subqueries. Finally, they present indexes and constraints that can be added to tables in SQL Server 2005.

This most excellent book is expected to be used by schools and SQL training organizations as well as by database and IT professionals who are actively working with SQL Server 2005. More importantly, this book presents every topic, concept, and idea with examples of code and output.

Learning SQL on SQL Server 2005 by Richard Earp is an outstanding book for those that are new to SQL and want to learn how to use it on the SQL Server 2005 platform. Excellent writing, a compact size that isn't too big or too small (300+ pages), and solid content make this a book for those that want to pick up and excel at using SQL in no time at all.

11 Chapters cover all this needed to get started with the following topics covered:

01. Basics of setting up SQL Server 2005
02. Basic SQL commands
03. Creating, altering, populating tables
04. Joins
05. Functions
06. Developing queries
07. Set Operations
08. Joins versus Subqueries
09. Aggregation
10. Correlated Subqueries
11. Indexes and Constraints

All in all this is an EXCEPTIONAL piece of work that is well worth the price. I absolutely LOVE the 'Learning' line of books that O'Reilly puts out --- no doubt the easiest way for any person to just pick up a text and start getting to work as opposed to reading an 800 page encyclopedia that feels more like a filibustering politican rather than a teaching tool.

***** HIGHLY RECOMMENDED