Microsoft SQL Server 2008 Bible

Can one book really cover everything you need to know about SQL Server 2008? As more and more books are covering fewer and fewer features of this huge product, before taking a close look at Paul’s SQL Server 2008 Bible, I would have said no. And of course, the answer depends on how much you actually need to know about my favorite database system. For some, ‘‘information needed’’ could cover a lot of ground, but Paul’s book comes closer to covering everything than any book I have ever seen. Paul Nielsen brings his passion for SQL Server and his many years of experience with this product into every page of the SQL Server 2008 Bible. Every detail and every example is tested out by Paul personally, and I know for a fact that he had fun doing all this amazing writing and testing.

How This Book Is Organized
SQL Server is a huge product with dozens of technologies and interrelated features. Seventy-six chapters! Just organizing a book of this scope is a daunting task. A book of this size and scope must also be approachable as both a cover-to-cover read and a reference book. The ten parts of this book are organized by job role, project flow, and skills progression:

Part I: Laying the Foundation
Part II: Manipulating Data with Select
Part III: Beyond Relational
Part IV: Developing with SQL Server
Part V: Data Connectivity
Part VI: Enterprise Data Management
Part VII: Security
Part VIII: Monitoring and Auditing
Part IX: Performance Tuning and Optimization
Part X: Business Intelligence