5 comments about Murach's SQL Server 2005 for Developers.

1. This is the 5th book of Murach's that I have purchased, once again it is as good as the other's. Provides concise information in an easy to read format.



2. I am using "Murach's SQL Server 2005 for Developers" for a community college entry-level SQL class. It is a great book with nice prose and good examples.
   
   One drawback is that instead of identifying, say, Figure 8.3 above-or-below the image, the identification is listed at the bottom of the page with the image. That takes awhile to get used to and makes it harder than it needs to be to make sure I am looking at the correct code snippet.



3. I read Murach's SQL Server 2005 for Developers while looking for a book for teaching a class on SQL. Since the course is going to use SQL Server it seemed like an obvious fit. It is. This is a targeted book for the professional course on writing SQL for SQL Server 2005.
   
   I suppose it could be used for learning SQL for other databases but it does a pretty good job of hitting all the SQL Server specific variations in SQL that make up T-SQL. I also suppose that it could be used for self directed study. Like the rest of the Murach books, it has a side by side format with explanation and related examples. Since there's plenty of room for Lab work, it really fits the classroom well.
   
   Overall I'm happy with the book and don't have any real criticism. It is what it tries to be. A book for teaching SQL for SQL Server 2005.



4. If you're new to SQL Server, the format of this book could not be better or reading it cover to cover. It's designed (as Murach's other books) in a style to indroduce a small concept per page and give you an excercise to try it yourself. I recommend this book to all beginners to the technology but not necessarily if you have a lot of experience in the field already.



5. The only thing I can find wrong with it is that it didn't come with sql server cd. Other than that it's just fine.

5 comments about Learning SQL on SQL Server 2005 (Learning).

1. 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.



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



3. 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.



4. 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...



5. 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.

5 comments about Professional SQL Server 2005 Reporting Services.

1. This is the fifth book that I have purchased from Wiley Publishing (WROX), and I must say that I have been very pleased so far by the overall quality of the publications until now. I read through the other four and still use each one of them as a relevant reference source.
   
   I am half way thru this book and the experience has not been pleasant to say the least. The inconsistencies between the text, figure's and examples are to numerous to be overlooked. And, to be honest, this is one of the most confusing approaches that I have come across in quite some time. He is obvious very knowledge about SSRS, but during many of his explanations he orphans the examples or doesn't tie what he is explaining back to the example. This makes it very difficult to reproduce in the actual development environment. You're just left confused!
   
   I am a twelve year veteran of Crystal Reports, Application Development and Database Design and I find this book very difficult to follow. So unfortunately, I would not recommend this particular book to others ... I am just surprisingly disappointed.



2. This will probably be an ok reference for some things in ssrs, but otherwise it has been a real pain to get through. There seems to be a huge amount of repetitive informatin in the first three chapters before we actually get to start writing reports.
   
   Unfortunately, once writing reports, it seems like the authors have ADD. They start talking about a walk through exercise but never actually have the walk through. They do have a couple of exercises where they show you how to go step by step, but these are not explained well.
   
   I think the writing, other than being repetative, is sometimes unecessarily chatty, but at other times way to terse for beginners.
   
   I have managed to glean some value from the book, but it's been tough. I would definitely recommend if you haven't touched SSRS yet to go through the tutorials on MSDN first. They do a better job of introducing you to basics, giving you plain instructions, and not overloading you with commentary that isn't all helpful in just getting you up to speed on how to create reports. Luckily I did this before I bought the book. I think if I was completely new to reporting and SSRS, I would have thrown this book down in disgust after the first 100 pages or so...



3. This book is about average. With that I am not implying that it is a bad book but rather that you could find the same information on the Internet just by googling a little bit. I guess I was expecting to find something really clever in it, something that it would make it more useful that simple internet articles. Again, not a bad book but also not one that will make the difference.



4. Almost impossible to do the walkthroughs as the writers can't decide if they are giving you instructions or just offering some general concepts. Chapters 1-3 are a waste of time. Go straight to chapter 4 to get started.
   
   The format is too conversational and often fluffed-out with irrelevant details.
   
   Overall, another disappointing Wrox text that has too many authors and no editor.



5. The reason for being so confusing is this book was written by so many authors, thereby the ideas presented are not coherent. This is not a learner's book, and if you're looking for one I suggest you buy Brian Larson's instead - great book, easy to follow and the author will patiently answer your inquiries regarding some minor problems.
   
   I bought this book yesterday hoping I could supplement the things I've already learned previously regarding RS, but no, I'll return this book today and ask for a refund.

5 comments about Inside Microsoft SQL Server 2005: T-SQL Programming (Pro-Developer).

1. This book is a must-have, even for those who uses other SQL Databases... Totally Amazing!



2. This book has lots of sample code for developers to follow. I bought a book "Advanced Transact-SQL for SQL Server 2000" written by Itzik Ben-gan about five years and loved the book. This book did great job in the SQL Scripts where you might need to spent sometime read through it.
   
   This book is a gem for SQL developers!!! Highly recommanded!!!



3. You should think of this book as of the second volume of the two-volume set on the 2005-Server SQL. If you get this one, you'll get the other one too; neither tome is self-sufficient; in fact there's a lot of explicit interdependence. This book, Programming, deals with slightly more esoteric features than the first tome, Querying -- although I can't say you must read the first entire volume before touching this one. Both books can be read at the same time (but see what I say about the target reader below).
   
   So, real quick:
   
   1. Target reader: someone with a good grasp of the 2000 Server wishing to learn the new stuff that came with the 2005 server (there's a lot: the 2005 product is _much_ better than the previous: covering new features is probably the only thing that's unequivocally good about this book). This is NOT your first, nor second, nor third book on SQL in general or MS SQL Server in particular. You must have a good grasp of the basics to be able to overcome this book. I say 'overcome' advisedly; more on it below.
   
   2. Content: Data-type subtleties (datetime, xml, CLR user-defined types -- a lot of CLR in this volume); temporary tables, cursors, dynamic SQL, views, user-defined funcs, stored procs, triggers, a bit on transactions, exception handling, a bit on service broker.
   
   3. Very clean technically: no technical errors (and while we're here: I found no typos either).
   
   4. Depth vs breadth: the book is more extensive than deep, although on average it's (inevitably) more in-depth than the first volume. Some reviewers here say it's very deep or difficult -- and difficult is true, although not because of PhD anything. This, unfortunately, brings me to the next point:
   
   5. Writing: ABHORRENT. (Both volumes, Querying, and Programming, in about the same degree). That's why it seems difficult, PhD and so on -- except this difficulty isn't due to, say, conceptual complexity of the subject matter. It's the authors' extreme inability to use the English language to explain things that makes reading this book such a chore. There is also conceptual muddle (unsurprisingly: people write as they think).
   
   Now, experience taught me to forgive literary incapacity to a _technical_ author (to a degree; and I do take notice and, if possible, avoid him in the future). In cases like that I put the blame squarely on the publisher, especially if otherwise I know the publisher to be solid. I have a pile of books from Microsoft Press and I consider them a good publisher, so what's the matter?
   
   Although (strangely) a bit better than the first volume, this book (Programming) is also strewn with unimaginable, fantastic garbage of every possible kind, from grating usage errors to a pervasive lack of unity, coherence, and logical connectedness on the page/paragraph level, to a frequent lack of the overall unity. When I bought this book and read it a bit I was so p-off I almost sent it back (I got as far as getting an RMA from Amazon). I did keep it though. Both of them, actually.
   
   Do I recommend this book? It has been useful to me (especially the UDF section: there's a lot of new stuff, all very handy), so -- with great reservation, and only to the right reader -- yes, kinda. And please check out what else is available (there's tons of books on the 2005 server these days). The Programming book is part of the three-volume update and extension of the server-2000 version by Delaney. Delaney's server-2000 book was extremely useful and quite decently written. I wish they let her write the new version, even though it's now three books instead of one, and I suppose it's difficult for one person to do it all.



4. Please see review by C. Mialaret. S/he is spot on.
   
   One gets the impression that the author may have been more focused on impressing you with his eruditeness, rather than writing a practical book with useful examples and clear explanations.
   
   Affecianados of Kalen Delaney's 'Inside SQL Server 2000' will be disappointed.



5. Book actually has very limited T-SQL. Mostly triggers, USP, functions, but little actual code.

5 comments about Microsoft SQL Server(TM) 2005 Administrator's Companion (Pro - Administrator's Companion).

1. Looks like all the reviews for this book are for SQL 7.0. I have the SQL 2005 version of this book and I have to say it is VERY complete. It is not a rehash of online material, but in depth coverage of essential SQL technologies and system administration. If you want a programming guide, skip this book. If you want to know how SQL works, and what to do if it is broken (better yet, read this book and learn how not to break it first), then buy this book. Essential for any DBA.



2. My department is in the process of migrating to MS SQL2005 from SQL2000 and this book is a must have for any administrator. If your familar with previous administrator companion books, this one is very similar in nature. The book has already paid for itself in tips in performance configurations. The author's include small 'Real World' sections in most area's that provide a good information and suggestions.
   
   In addition, if you are new to MS SQL2005, this book will provide good background information and review all the concepts that make a good DBA.



3. I have read the book as a pro.. i do have been working with sql server for a number of years now. So going thru the initial sections was pretty quick... i am quite impressed with the format and the step by step approach to a number of configuration procedures which is not so common and where it hurts the most.
   
   Enjoy reading...
   
   Kumar



4. 
   This is one of the most complete books on SQL 2005 available.
   It may be a bit much for a beginner, though. Brush up on the terminology
   and basic concepts first, and then this book will explain a great deal
   about the day to day workings of a database in a production environment.



5. The information is displayed in a easy-to-find manner. The style is clear and concise.
   
   If you are new to SQL Server 2005 administration, this is the book to keep on your desk.

5 comments about Inside Microsoft® SQL Server(TM) 2005: Query Tuning and Optimization.

1. I am only half way through this book, but the information it has given me has been valuable. I am excited to further test out the information, as well as learn more.
   
   I have had issues using the Profiler before and was looking for more help. This book has provided it.
   
   It does go a bit long for the issues I'm looking at, but I have been impressed so far.



2. I was disappointed with this book, which I bought together with SQL Tuning by Dan Tow, hoping to get well-digested expert advice. SQL Tuning was all that I hoped for, and I highly recommend it.
   
   This book, though, has that creepy quality so common to MSFT Press books, where very knowledgeable people, usually connected with the MSFT development teams, list feature after feature in long, passive-voice descriptions, failing to discriminate for the reader and advise as to what is useful and what is not. You have the sense that they spent lots of time at trade shows touting the latest horde of "features", and little time coding under the strain of deadlines and client expectations. To them, every SQL Server nuance is always useful and wonderful and should get fair mention :(
   
   This is a simple example, but SQL Tuning tells me that table scans are normally fine when selecting above 20% of rows, and index seeks are good for row counts under a percent, the space between depending on circumstance (which gray space the book goes on to address). This book, meanwhile, provides no real guidance, and tells me that table scans can be good, and indexes are useful too, and that SQL Server handles both nicely, and that the optimizer selects one or the other, and that it uses iterators, and that they are important, and that you can see what the optimizer has selected, and that you can change that if you want, and that you can automate the change, and that you can document the change, and here are the 4 related undocumented stored procs, and that this is new for 2005, and that there are other related matters, and that SQL Server has all this. Thanks!
   
   Seems they are always plugging the product and never can admit to having suffered with its complexity. The recommendations, if you get them, are always muted by a kool-aid soaked affinity for SQL Server, which does all things well and will never fail to offer just the feature you need to succeed.
   
   The book runs very long and strikes me as a big core dump on 3,000 topics, none of which seem prioritized or emphasized in distinct categories. Sure, the book has distinct chapters into which related material is dumped, but this fails to serve as **guidance**, which is what you are buying the book for. Not written by people in the trenches. Not recommended unless you want to buy some additional MSFT documentation.



3. I have read around 25 SQL 7/2000/2005 books including all 3 books and 1 pamphlet from Kalen Delaney. This is by far the best Kalen Delaney book and one of the best SQL 2005 books.
   
   Unlike her other SQL 2005 book (SQL 2005 Storage Engine), this book does not suffer from convoluted and often incomprehensible writing.
   
   This book covers (and covers it well):
   1)Performance tuning using different indexes.
   2)SQL execution plans and what each process means.
   3)Explanation of statistics (the best I have read).
   4)Troubleshooting Query Performance (mostly better usage of indexes).
   
   What this book does not cover are:
   1)Database Administration (backup/recovery, replication, stored procedures etc).
   2)Business Intelligence
   3)How to write T-SQL (functions, views, SP etc).
   4)Integration Services.
   
   Overall, this book is not a "how to" book as much as a very high level explanation of the workings of SQL and how they process T-SQL. I highly recommend it for those with already keen understanding of T-SQL and SQL 2005.



4. I rarely review books, but for this one I feel compelled to do so. I knew that SQL Queries were creating major bottlenecks in my web application, but I did not know which ones they were and how to fix them. My app was already live with thousands of users, and since I am primarily a web developer (and not a database expert), I needed practical help, and fast.
   
   Because of this book, within a matter of days I went from clueless to expert in reading query execution plans, creating effective indexes, and tuning my queries. By making my application much more responsive, I am sure I retained countless customers. Another big benefit: I am saving thousands of dollars per year on postponing or cancelling hardware upgrades (more processors, faster disk/raid systems, etc) that I thought were necessary to support my users. With my queries tuned and optimized, it looks like I can handle 4-5 times the load on my current infrastructure than I had previously thought.
   
   This book really is a must read for anyone with a web application with even a modestly sized database, who is concerned with performance and scalability.



5. SQL performance tuning is probably one of those things you can do to really make a HUGE difference in performance. Let's put this in perspective: take a typical application, if you can improve the performance by 100% then you really made a huge improvement. You can improve a SQL query by 1000% with 2 lines of code (sometimes all you have to do is take away a % sign). If you can make a query sargable so that the optimizer can do an index seek instead of an index scan your query might go from 12 seconds to 200 milliseconds. Now try doing that in an application, even if you change all the string concatenation to use a stringbuilder instead of creating new strings all the time you will not get such a drastic performance improvement. I am sure you get the point by now, let's talk about the book.
   
   This book is part 4 of the Inside Microsoft SQL Server 2005 series, it is written by Kalen Delaney and five other authors. There are 6 chapters in this book
   
   1 A Performance Troubleshooting Methodology
   This chapter explains some typical things that affect performance and also gives a troubleshooting overview
   
   2 Tracing and Profiling
   This chapter explains how to use the profiler and how to analyze traces. SQL Server's built-in traces are also covered
   
   3 Query Execution
   This chapter gives a query processing and execution overview. It explains how to read plans and goes into a lot of detail about analyzing plans
   
   4 Troubleshooting Query Performance
   This chapter explains how to detect problems in plans, how to improve queries and some best practices
   
   5 Plan Caching and Recompilation
   This chapter goes into detail about plan caching and recompilation and how to troubleshoot plan cache issues
   
   6 Concurrency Problems
   The final chapter deals with concurrency (locking, blocking and deadlocking)
   
   This is an excellent book for an intermediate/advanced developer. There is so much new stuff in SQL Server 2005 compared to 2000 to help you with tuning queries that you probably want to read each chapter several times. The Dynamic Management Views are a big help and this book shows you how to use them. Some other cool stuff in this book is the discussion of internal tables, undocumented DBCC commands and undocumented trace flags to discover information which could help you determine much faster what the cause of a performance problem might be. Some pages are packed with so much information that you need to pause for a second and process all that info (I have read some pages two to three times in a row). You will also find out that there are more joins besides left, full and outer. Page 137 for example has a nice table with the three Physical Join Operators: Nested Loop Join, Hash Join and Merge Join. This table lists the characteristics for each of these joins. If you are an intermediate to advanced developer then I highly recommend this book.

5 comments about SQL Pocket Guide (Pocket References).

1. This book is the best form of remember SQLScript by engine details and lexical diference; I'm using Oracle v7, v8, v10 and SQLServer in my job; and mySQL and Oracle v10 in my own SOHO applications.



2. I love this little book since I work with many RDBMs and need use different syntaxes to accomplish the same thing. That's what this reference is good for - to remind you of material that you've forgotten.



3. I'm writing a review because of how impressed I've become with this over time. I have several SQL references and this gets used by far the most. I'm a big O'Reilly fan and I think I bought this title in addition to the Nutshell book because it was cheap and I also wanted multiple SQL reference books so I could have some at home as well as the office.
   
   I at first assumed that the Pocket guide would be inferior to the Nutshell book but I've found the reverse to be true for me. The strengths of this book are passages are always straight to the point, with tons of examples, and ALWAYS is very clear on relevant differences between different flavors of SQL (DB2, Oracle, SQL Server, & MySQL) without any blah blah blah.
   
   For knuckleheads who have worked in so many languages that they can't remember any syntax anymore, and who prefer a good terse example to a big syntax tree, this reference is highly recommended.



4. this pocket book is useful in that it touches on command sets from mysql, sql server, and also oracle. this cross platform approach is helpful when learning sql, or if one was to switch from one enterprise level system to the next. this mini book was shipped out in a timely fashion. i can say that the reference available in this book was well worth the moderate expense, as well as the shipping time.



5. A comprehensive and detailed SQL reference with sample code and result sets to make the content clear. An excellent pocket guide to take anywhere.

5 comments about Web Database Applications with PHP & MySQL, 2nd Edition.

1. I'm new to PHP and MySQL, but a programmer for over 3 decades. I'm customizing some PHP code, using code examples for ideas. When I (a) see something I want to understand better or (b) want to find the PHP analog for basic functions, I naturally turn to the index to try to find the information I need. However, I found the index very disappointing because of what it doesn't have. For example, simple and basic keywords are not in the index: "comment", "logical operator", "and", "or", etc. I'm going to have order a different book as a PHP reference.



2. If your having trouble deciding on a book for your php & mysql development buy this book. It covers all major aspects of php and mysql web development and then some. You will find something useful on every page of this book, and theres a good amount of book here.



3. The book got me off the ground with my first client application, a rudimentary database maintenance system. Most valuable were the techniques and thorough understanding required to build a satisfactory security component.
   
   However, it falls way short as a reference tool and could have included a more comprehensive list of mysql functions.



4. I really like this book--direct, no-nonsense, and intelligently written with a minimum of jokes.
   
   One thing that seems strange, that I'm hoping someone can clarify:
   
   In the section of chapter 8 dealing with transactions and concurrency, there is no mention of setting transaction isolation levels (SET TRANSACTION ISOLATION LEVEL command in MySQL). Instead, concurrency is achieved solely by setting table locks.
   
   I can sort of understand this in that the authors are using MyISAM tables. But why no mention of transaction isolation levels using INNODB tables, given that this is the more standard way of dealing with concurrency issues?



5. As usual in text books, there is a lot of useless information that is not necessary, but since writers are paid by the word, this is to be expected.
   
   I wish there was a section on MySQL commands.

5 comments about Professional SQL Server 2005 Integration Services (Programmer to Programmer).

1. SSIS only supports scripting in VB. But whenever there's a custom component or any code outside the mandatory VB realm, the book only presents a C# example. Even the WROX website does not provide VB code. So if I want to code my custom data flow task, or follow their wmi example, I MUST know C#. I can follow along okay, but I don't like having to interpret/rewrite your code samples to be able to use them and extend upon them.
   
   The general information is good, but don't think this book will leave mold you into an SSIS Expert. I only bought this book because I first bought the WROX "expert" ssis book, which started by saying they assume you have substantial knowledge of ssis, such as provided by this book.
   
   All in all, the book is a decent introduction to SSIS. I didn't suffer from the 10 author continuity loss as others did. I just want my examples in VB, especially for a product that only speaks VB for many functions.



2. The book was in perfect condition and delivered promptly. The information contained in the book was very informative and helpful. The writers explained the concepts clearly.



3. If you're needing an SSIS primer, this is a great place to start. There are definitely holes the "how to" part of some sections. However, you really get a good idea of what's possible in SSIS. If you want script specifics, you may need to search for it on MSDN or the web in general--but, at least you know what to look for.
   
   Buy this before you buy the Expert companion title if you're new to figuring out how things work in SSIS. I had several years of experience with DTS packages, and this book was a perfect start for me.



4. I originally intended to give this book two (2) stars, just because I was hacked off at the terrible index, but the content is worth at least three stars. The problem is locating the specific content you need.
   
   Example: User-defined package variables are often critical pieces of a SSIS package. Want to find out how to get/set package variable values from an Execute SQL Task? Well, you won't get anywhere trying to look up "Variables" in the index. Just when you think the text does not address this important issue, you browse the Execute SQL Task section and -- lo! -- there is an extended discussion on how to access package variables from SQL queries. But none of it is referenced by the "Variables" entry in the index.
   
   Brian Knight, by all accounts, is a good writer who knows his material, but any book that has ten (!) authors can't help but display a variety of writing styles and competencies. The book is adequate as a learning tool, but not as a reference. If the publisher had been in less of a hurry to get to market, Mr. Knight might have been allowed to take on fewer collaborators and produced a more coherent book. And a more complete index.



5. So far this book is great for basics. It gives a great overview of all the options you have to create a SSIS package. I had previously purchased the expert version because I had DTS experience and realized SSIS was totally different. So I bought the professional version and it's filled in a lot of gaps. It's also got nice tutorials at the end of the chapters that help you to create a basic SSIS package which is incredibly helpful for learning the new tools that are available.

5 comments about The Microsoft Data Warehouse Toolkit: With SQL Server 2005 and the Microsoft Business Intelligence Toolset.

1. Mundy and Thornthwaite provide the knowledgeable SQL Server technician with many of the soft and hard tools required to deliver a successful BI project. And even if most beginners might miss most of the authors' finer points and hard earned wisdom, they'll still be further ahead on a steep learning curve.
   
   Only wish the Kimball team had written the same book for Analysis Server 2000. It'd have saved me much time! ;-)



2. Having inherited a mature DW, I was weak on the Theory behind what I was supporting. I needed to be able to be confident of not breaking the current system, but still be able to take this vital system forward with the business. I am also under the Time pressure that we all work with. This book gave thorough but clear explanations of the concepts that underlie DW/BI solutions and then went on to particularise these explanations with details based on SQL Server. I am still working through it, but it is a pleasure rather than a chore.
   
   Thanks for the great work that you and the editorial team put into this book. JK.



3. I found this a frustrating book. Eventually I skipped this first 43 pages of introduction plus 120 first pages of the book proper. I felt the authors were more interested in using esoteric language than actually showing how to use the product. If you're trying to baffle someone with tech-speak, this is the book for you. If you have a deadline, and are trying to actually accomplish something, I would suggest looking elsewhere. Disappointed.



4. Having spent more time doing data warehousing than reading about it, I didn't realize what a phenomenon the Kimball Method had become. I was interviewing with a company that mentioned Kimball and wanted to use his methods to build a data warehouse on SQL Server 2005, so I turned to Amazon, found this book, used my Amazon Prime to get the tome and got the job. So how was the book? Honestly, it covers the Kimball Method well and most experienced analysts will not find much new other than the jargon. The practical advice from Mundy and Thornthwaite is valuable and will help you make some practical decisions on implementation, if not spell out all the steps. My feeling was that if you are comfortable with implementing data marts or data warehouses, this book will give you the advice you need for setting up a SQL Server 2005 data warehouse and implementing Analysis Services. For a more in depth look at how to implement Analysis Services, I recommend Melomed's book as a follow on.
   
   The only complaint I have with this book is it over sells SQL Server Integration Services (SSIS) as an ETL tool. That is probably Mundy's Microsoft viewpoint speaking rather than actual experience with the tool. After using SSIS, I look at it as Data Transformation Services (DTS) with a nice face on it, but really its just lipstick on the same pig. I have picked up several books on SSIS to try find out how to do all the wonderful things it promises, but they pretty much echo the documentatiion, so I can't really recommend any of them.
   
   Overall, this is book well worth reading. After spending the last year on an Oracle/Teradata project, its refreshing to get back to SQL Server 2005 and Analysis Services. If you are just making the jump to data warehousing on SQL Server 2005, this is a must read. If you are already familiar with Kimball, you will skip a lot but get some good implementation advice and that makes it worth the price. If you want to know more about MDX or SSIS, this isn't what you are looking for.



5. I bought this book for a class. It is very complete. I am an IT person who need this sense of Business Size of BI while I am updating my SQL Server skills. I recommend this book.