Murach’s SQL Server 2012 for Developers
eBook Details:
- Paperback: 814 pages
- Publisher: WOW! eBook & Associates (August 20, 2012)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 1890774693
- ISBN-13: 978-1890774691
eBook Description:
Murach’s SQL Server 2012 for Developers
Every application developer who uses SQL Server 2012 should own this book. To start, it presents the essential SQL statements for retrieving and updating the data in a database. You have to master these to work effectively with database data in your applications. Then, it shows you how to design and create a database, because application developers often end up in the role of database designer and DBA. Next, it shows how to work with views, scripts, stored procedures, functions, triggers, cursors, transactions, locking, security, XML data, and BLOB data with FILESTREAM storage. These features allow you to create database applications that are thoroughly professional. Finally, this book shows how to use the CLR integration feature and SQL Server Data Tools (SSDT), so you can use Visual Studio to code stored procedures, functions, triggers, aggregate functions, and user-defined types in C# or Visual Basic.
For the most part, the SQL language and features that are covered in this book haven’t undergone major changes in the 2012 release. There are a few new features, like sequences for assigning values to integer columns, as well as some significant changes to CLR integration. But if you already know SQL Server 2008, this book isn’t essential for your initial upgrade to 2012…although you may want to have it on hand for reference.
I think it’s fair to say that most developers don’t know enough about SQL and the database management system they’re using. As one customer put it, “I know just enough about SQL Server to be a little bit dangerous!”
That’s why developers often code SQL statements that don’t perform as efficiently as they ought to. That’s why they aren’t able to code some of the queries that they need for their applications. That’s why they don’t take advantage of all the features that SQL Server has to offer.
And that’s why this book should be required reading for every application programmer who uses SQL Server. Beyond that, this is the right first book for anyone who wants to become a database administrator. Of course, if you want to become a DBA, you’ll need to continue your study of SQL Server’s advanced features after you finish this book…but you’ll be well-prepared to go on.
When we published the first edition of this book, we heard from plenty of developers who were just starting out using Microsoft SQL Server and found this to be a great book for training.
But we also heard from a lot of experienced developers who read it and were amazed to discover how much they didn’t know about SQL. That’s why we’ve dubbed this book “the SQL book that most developers don’t even know they need.”
So whether you’re new to SQL…or whether you’ve been squeaking by with the SQL you know, never realizing how much you’re missing out on…this is the book for you.
For example, you’ll learn:
- How to create complex inner and outer joins, summary queries, and subqueries that do more of the database processing for you so that your applications can do less
- What the different data types are and how to handle the common problems you run into with various types of data
- How to use built-in functions to handle everyday challenges like manipulating character data, rounding numbers, and working with date/time values
- How to work with XML data
- How to take advantage of powerful backend database features like views, scripts, stored procedures, and triggers
- How to deal with database control features like cursors, transactions, and locking
- How to use the FILESTREAM storage feature to work efficiently with binary large objects (BLOBs), such as image, sound, and video files
- The basics of database design and implementation using the Management Studio or SQL DDL statements (you can write more efficient queries when you know something about database design…and you’ll start to see what your DBA has to think about, if that’s a career path that interests you)
- How to use the CLR integration feature to create database objects by using SSDT (SQL Server Data Tools) with C# or Visual Basic
Ready to master all of this?
Then let Murach’s SQL Server 2012 for Developers quickly boost you to a new level of competence and professionalism.
Who this book is for
I think it’s fair to say that most developers don’t know enough about SQL and the database management system they’re using. As one customer put it, “I know just enough about SQL Server to be a little bit dangerous!”
That’s why developers often code SQL statements that don’t perform as efficiently as they ought to. That’s why they aren’t able to code some of the queries that they need for their applications. That’s why they don’t take advantage of all the features that SQL Server has to offer.
And that’s why this book should be required reading for every application programmer who uses SQL Server. Beyond that, this is the right first book for anyone who wants to become a database administrator. Of course, if you want to become a DBA, you’ll need to continue your study of SQL Server’s advanced features after you finish this book…but you’ll be well-prepared to go on.
What are the prerequisites for using this book?
Everything you need to know about databases and SQL is presented in this book. However, you’ll get more out of chapter 20 (BLOBs) and section 5 (on CLR integration) if you have some programming experience with a .NET language like C# or Visual Basic.
What if you have the previous edition of this book, Murach’s SQL Server 2008 for Developers?
For the most part, the SQL language and features that are covered in this book haven’t undergone major changes in the 2012 release. There are a few new features, like sequences for assigning values to integer columns, as well as some significant changes to CLR integration. But if you already know SQL Server 2008, this book isn’t essential for your initial upgrade to 2012…although you may want to have it on hand for reference.
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