March 15, 2017 at 4:16 pm
Hello everyone, I am new to TSQL development and well to be honest programming itself. All my life I avoided writing scripts and programming and have managed to escape it all together by googling the scripts and using them by modifying to my needs and many a times just shamelessly asking people for help and scripts. But I recently decided to change all that, I want to be the one who contributes and shares my script to the world and hope someone uses them and it makes their day. I want to contribute to the forums and solve other people's problems and contribute. But I have such a hard time starting at the right place. So I am asking everyone to help me direct in the right way PLEASE!!!
1. What is a good place to start learning how to code in TSQL?
2. In MSDN, where is the right place to look for the TSQL development/programming. I looked up https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb510741.aspx Is there anywhere else I can lookup for reference?
3. Where is a good place to see what all TSQL language has to offer, meaning where can we see what all in-built functionality does TSQL have that we can utilize?
4. I know how to navigate in TSQL, I can write basic select's and DML. I want to learn how to write functions and stored procedures using IF THEN and WHILE loops.
I hope I am clear in my asking for help.
Will eagerly look forward to hearing from you.
Regards
Amir
March 16, 2017 at 11:13 am
amirmir - Wednesday, March 15, 2017 4:16 PMHello everyone, I am new to TSQL development and well to be honest programming itself. All my life I avoided writing scripts and programming and have managed to escape it all together by googling the scripts and using them by modifying to my needs and many a times just shamelessly asking people for help and scripts. But I recently decided to change all that, I want to be the one who contributes and shares my script to the world and hope someone uses them and it makes their day. I want to contribute to the forums and solve other people's problems and contribute. But I have such a hard time starting at the right place. So I am asking everyone to help me direct in the right way PLEASE!!!
1. What is a good place to start learning how to code in TSQL?
2. In MSDN, where is the right place to look for the TSQL development/programming. I looked up https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb510741.aspx Is there anywhere else I can lookup for reference?
3. Where is a good place to see what all TSQL language has to offer, meaning where can we see what all in-built functionality does TSQL have that we can utilize?
4. I know how to navigate in TSQL, I can write basic select's and DML. I want to learn how to write functions and stored procedures using IF THEN and WHILE loops.
I hope I am clear in my asking for help.Will eagerly look forward to hearing from you.
Regards
Amir
Hi,
You seem to be on the right path. However, I'll try to give you some more guidance. Books Online (BOL) has everything you need to know on T-SQL, but it might be hard to learn just from it. It's a great reference if you want to look for something specific but cumbersome to read entirely.
You can find a section in here called Stairways which are easy-to-follow guides to learn the basics and more. You could also read the articles and blogs in here or on other sites like sqlmag, sqlperformance or sqlskills.
Another great option are the forums. If you try to answer, even if you don't post anything, will challenge you with problems that might not face immediately. You can also learn from other replies.
Creating procedures and functions is not a hard task and are very similar to normal scripting, but you might want to stay away from loops (most of the time) as they're incredibly slow in SQL. Look for the term RBAR to learn why to avoid loops.
March 16, 2017 at 11:25 am
amirmir - Wednesday, March 15, 2017 4:16 PMHello everyone, I am new to TSQL development and well to be honest programming itself. All my life I avoided writing scripts and programming and have managed to escape it all together by googling the scripts and using them by modifying to my needs and many a times just shamelessly asking people for help and scripts. But I recently decided to change all that, I want to be the one who contributes and shares my script to the world and hope someone uses them and it makes their day. I want to contribute to the forums and solve other people's problems and contribute. But I have such a hard time starting at the right place. So I am asking everyone to help me direct in the right way PLEASE!!!
1. What is a good place to start learning how to code in TSQL?
2. In MSDN, where is the right place to look for the TSQL development/programming. I looked up https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb510741.aspx Is there anywhere else I can lookup for reference?
3. Where is a good place to see what all TSQL language has to offer, meaning where can we see what all in-built functionality does TSQL have that we can utilize?
4. I know how to navigate in TSQL, I can write basic select's and DML. I want to learn how to write functions and stored procedures using IF THEN and WHILE loops.
I hope I am clear in my asking for help.Will eagerly look forward to hearing from you.
Regards
Amir
Congrats to you - I like your attitude and decision to work on this!!
Where you start and how you learn really depends as it can be different for everyone. Since your used to the forums here, that is a good start. You can look for questions that you are interesting in how to solve and then try to figure it out on your own. Then check later to see what others have replied with. You don't have to answer or anything...just use it like a practice question.
There are also some online tutorials - you can search on t-sql programming tutorial to find some. You can also find some similar things on YouTube if that type of learning works better for you. The msdn reference isn't a bad place to start - and you can just go through all of the commands.
There are a lot of other web sites as well. It's often more a matter of figuring out what works best for you, what sites make the most sense to you, whether you prefer books or live presentations or walk throughs on web sites.
You may also want to make a list of different t-sql commands that you have run into before and maybe used in scripts but don't really know what they are. Then research those commands, find examples of how to use them, write up your own queries.
There are series of articles (Stairway series) on this web site that help you walk through different features and there are a few of those that address t-sql in particular. You may find those helpful as well. Here is a link to the list of those:
SQL Server Stairways
The most important thing is that first and foremost - you want to learn and get better. That's a huge step.
Second thing to remember is that there is no right or wrong way to learn, it's a matter of just using what works best for you.
The getting started part is hard with a lot of things. Sometimes we just have to throw ourselves in there and start anywhere as just starting usually gets things going.
Sue
March 16, 2017 at 11:47 am
I forgot 3 things.
1.- Be sure to install SQL Server Developer Edition on your personal computer and get the sample databases. This will give you a nice setup to start playing, learning and messing around without harming any important data.
2.- If you can spend some bucks, get a book. I know people recommend Itzik Ben-Gan's books as a great way to start and get a wide knowledge.
3.- If you have even more money to spend, find a course. It won't give you in-depth knowledge, but it will give you a glance on many of the features available for you to understand later.
March 16, 2017 at 11:56 am
I was just coming back to say the same about the Developers Edition. Its free so no reason not to have it really. You want to have an instance on your PC for testing things. The other thing I forgot is to install the AdventureWorks sample database since it ends up being used in so many examples.
Sue
March 16, 2017 at 2:28 pm
Sue_H - Thursday, March 16, 2017 11:56 AMI was just coming back to say the same about the Developers Edition. Its free so no reason not to have it really. You want to have an instance on your PC for testing things. The other thing I forgot is to install the AdventureWorks sample database since it ends up being used in so many examples.
Sue
Or WideWorldImporters if SQL Server 2016 is installed. Or both to follow most examples in the web.
March 16, 2017 at 2:40 pm
Luis Cazares - Thursday, March 16, 2017 2:28 PMSue_H - Thursday, March 16, 2017 11:56 AMI was just coming back to say the same about the Developers Edition. Its free so no reason not to have it really. You want to have an instance on your PC for testing things. The other thing I forgot is to install the AdventureWorks sample database since it ends up being used in so many examples.
Sue
Or WideWorldImporters if SQL Server 2016 is installed. Or both to follow most examples in the web.
Thank you so much Mr. Cazares, I really appreciate you taking the time and helping me out. Really appreciate your time and suggestions.
God Bless!!
Amir
March 16, 2017 at 2:41 pm
Sue_H - Thursday, March 16, 2017 11:25 AMamirmir - Wednesday, March 15, 2017 4:16 PMHello everyone, I am new to TSQL development and well to be honest programming itself. All my life I avoided writing scripts and programming and have managed to escape it all together by googling the scripts and using them by modifying to my needs and many a times just shamelessly asking people for help and scripts. But I recently decided to change all that, I want to be the one who contributes and shares my script to the world and hope someone uses them and it makes their day. I want to contribute to the forums and solve other people's problems and contribute. But I have such a hard time starting at the right place. So I am asking everyone to help me direct in the right way PLEASE!!!
1. What is a good place to start learning how to code in TSQL?
2. In MSDN, where is the right place to look for the TSQL development/programming. I looked up https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb510741.aspx Is there anywhere else I can lookup for reference?
3. Where is a good place to see what all TSQL language has to offer, meaning where can we see what all in-built functionality does TSQL have that we can utilize?
4. I know how to navigate in TSQL, I can write basic select's and DML. I want to learn how to write functions and stored procedures using IF THEN and WHILE loops.
I hope I am clear in my asking for help.Will eagerly look forward to hearing from you.
Regards
AmirCongrats to you - I like your attitude and decision to work on this!!
Where you start and how you learn really depends as it can be different for everyone. Since your used to the forums here, that is a good start. You can look for questions that you are interesting in how to solve and then try to figure it out on your own. Then check later to see what others have replied with. You don't have to answer or anything...just use it like a practice question.
There are also some online tutorials - you can search on t-sql programming tutorial to find some. You can also find some similar things on YouTube if that type of learning works better for you. The msdn reference isn't a bad place to start - and you can just go through all of the commands.
There are a lot of other web sites as well. It's often more a matter of figuring out what works best for you, what sites make the most sense to you, whether you prefer books or live presentations or walk throughs on web sites.
You may also want to make a list of different t-sql commands that you have run into before and maybe used in scripts but don't really know what they are. Then research those commands, find examples of how to use them, write up your own queries.
There are series of articles (Stairway series) on this web site that help you walk through different features and there are a few of those that address t-sql in particular. You may find those helpful as well. Here is a link to the list of those:
SQL Server StairwaysThe most important thing is that first and foremost - you want to learn and get better. That's a huge step.
Second thing to remember is that there is no right or wrong way to learn, it's a matter of just using what works best for you.
The getting started part is hard with a lot of things. Sometimes we just have to throw ourselves in there and start anywhere as just starting usually gets things going.Sue
Thank you so much Sue for your time and suggestions, I will work on that. Much appreciate your input.
God Bless
Amir
Viewing 8 posts - 1 through 7 (of 7 total)
You must be logged in to reply to this topic. Login to reply