A number of book publishers regularly send me books, hoping that I will write a good review for them. Most of the time, I don’t have the time to read them, so they end up on my bookshelf collecting dust, or maybe I will give them away to friends.
Recently, though, I decided to read one of the books that was sent to me with the goal of writing a review. The book was designed to get non-SQL Server developers up to speed on how to develop SQL Server 2008 applications using Transact-SQL. This is a very worthy goal, because based on my experience, it is bad application design and code that is the root of most SQL Server scalability and performance problems. So I had great expectations when I began reading the book.
Before I go any further, I want to give you an example that I think summarizes this book, then I will go into more specifics. For example, let’s say that a company has hired a new developer right out of college. The developer is bright and knows Visual BASIC, C#, .NET, and so on. In other words, he knows application coding inside and out. For his first project, he is assigned to create a new application that will use SQL Server as the backend database. Unfortunately, other than taking a couple of database theory classes in college, he has never written any Transact-SQL code. No problem, this is a bright developer. He picks up a copy of the book (I was reviewing), reads it, and because he is bright, masters the fundamentals of Transact-SQL development quickly, and he is ready to begin coding his first SQL Server-based application. If I was the DBA for this organization, I would be scared, very scared. The problem is that you can’t learn how to develop SQL Server-based applications from a single book, especially if that book focuses strictly on how to write Transact-SQL, and little else.
Reading this book got me thinking. What would the ideal book that teaches developers how to create SQL Server-based applications include? After some thought, I came up with the following suggestions (not in any special order):
After writing the above list, I realize that it is virtually impossible to include everything I have included to fit into a single book. Instead, perhaps a series of book, each building upon the other, might be a good approach. This way, a person new to SQL Server development would properly get up to speed, putting them in the position so that they could write competent database applications, even though they may not have a lot of experience. Of course, experience is the key to writing great applications, but everybody has to start somewhere, and hopefully is not from reading a single, poorly-written book on SQL Server development.
So what do you think? What are the biggest problems you have found with books you have read that “supposedly” teach SQL Server development? Do you agree with my list, and do you have any items you would like to add to it?
Also, if you have read some books that come close to the above ideals, what are they?
PS: Sorry, but I won’t reveal the name of the book I was reading. My mother always told me, if I can’t say anything nice at all, then don’t say anything. I can’t disappoint my mother, right?
The European PASS Conference will be held in Neuss Germany (near Düsseldorf) from April 22-24, 2009. It will include 36 technical sessions, with tracks for DBAs, Developers, and BI Experts. It will also include several full-day pre-conference sessions.
I will be speaking at the conference on the topic of “Database Maintenance Optimization Strategies for the Database Professional.” This will be my first trip to Germany and speaking at the European PASS Conference. If you have the opportunity, please introduce yourself.
Normally when I write a book, I create a book outline, give it to my editor for feedback, make some changes, then begin writing the book.
I would like to try something different, assuming you are interested. Since I am at the very early stage of creating the book’s outline, would you like to review it and give me some feedback? I am sure that if I could get several (or many) SQLServerCentral.Com members to offer me their advice on the outline, that I could write an even better book than if I did all the outlining by myself.
So what do you say. Do you want to help out?
The book is tentatively called “High Performance Index Maintenance,” and as you can guess from the title, it is a very narrowly focused topic. The goal is to keep the book under 75 Word pages, and then publish it as a compact reference book that will be given away free as an e-book, and in some cases, as a printed book.
If you have some extra time, and you have a lot of experience with index maintenance, please e-mail me at bradmcgehee@hotmail.com, and I will send you a copy of the draft version (which is about 6 pages). You can make any comments you want in the Word document, and then return it to me no later than Friday, February 6, 2009.
In return, when the book is finally printed as a paperback version, I will send you an autographed copy. I will also mention you in the book, by name, for your contribution to the outlining process.
Thanks!
Anyone attending TechEd 2009 can submit a Birds of a Feather (BOF) session proposal. These sessions are open discussion topics of mutual interest to other TechEd attendees, and can include almost any topic of interest to developers and IT professionals. If your BOF session is accepted, you will act as the discussion leader, facilitating the discussion. You are not expected to make a presentation, just introduce the topic and lead the discussion.
Participating as a BOF discussion leader can help you gain experience in front of an audience without the stress of making a formal presentation, and can help contribute to your soft skills development as a DBA or developer.
Once you submit your proposal, they are voted on by other TechEd attendees, and the winners get to lead their suggested session.
For more information, and to submit your proposal, visit: https://www.msteched.com/modules/bof/submit.aspx
I recently had the opportunity to play the T-SQL Alphabet Game, which was introduced to me by SQL Server MVP, Rodney Landrum, the author of Pro SQL Server 2008 Reporting Services.
While I am not much of a game player myself, I can see how it can be a fun game for DBAs to play when they need a diversion from their generally stressful job duties.
On the surface, the game seems very simple to play, but looks can be deceiving. Here’s how you play. First, you need two or more players. The more players, the more fun the game can be. Second, pick someone to start the game, it doesn’t matter who it is. The first player must come up with a valid T-SQL command that begins with the letter “A”. The second player then must come up with a T-SQL command that beings with the letter “B”. The third player must come up with a T-SQL command that begins with the letter “C”, and so on, rotating through each of the letters of the alphabet. Everybody gets a turn in a round-robin fashion.
For example, a valid T-SQL command for the letter “A” might be “ABS”, for the letter “B” might be “BACKUP DATABASE”, and for the letter “C” might be “CAST”, and so on.
Each person gets 5 seconds to come up with the answer, and if they can’t come up with a valid answer, then they are out of the game. This continues until there is only one person left—the winner. If you have a smart group playing the game, you may have to cycle through the alphabet more than once until you have a winner. Of course, if you have to recycle the alphabet, you can’t recycle previous answers. All responses have to be different.
As I said earlier, this game sounds easy, but under the pressure of time, and with some letter’s that have few T-SQL commands that begin with that letter, the game can become very challenging.
If you want, you can change the rules of the game to add variety. For example, you can give 10 seconds to each player to come up with an answer, you can choose the winner by who comes up with the most correct answers within the designated time frame, or make up any variation of the game you want, assuming you set the rules before you begin the game.
So the next time you and a few of your DBA friends get together, and you want to do something really fun (geeky), then play this game, and see who really is the most technically savvy (geekest) DBA of the group.
After a lot of delays, my book on how to use SQL Server Profiler has been published by Simple-Talk Publishing, and it can be downloaded free here. A little later, this book will be available for purchase as a paperback book from Amazon.com.
The 283 page book is titled Mastering SQL Server Profiler, and as you can guess from the title, the focus is on learning how to use SQL Server Profiler. Not only does it cover the basics, it includes a discussion of every Profiler event and data column that can be collected, and in addition, shows you how to apply it to your day-to-day work as a DBA or developer.
The book covers these topics:
At 283 pages, you might think that I have covered everything there is to know about Profiler, but that is not the case. There is a lot more that I could have covered, but I had a 300 page limit for the book and had leave a lot out. On the other hand, if you read and master all of the content in this book, you will be a long ways toward becoming a Profiler Master.
The 2009 devLINK Technical Conference will be held in Nashville, TN, August 13-15, 2009. This three-day conference provides technical content for DBAs, Solution Developers, Solution Architects, Project Managers, Business Analysis, Technology Executive, and IT Professionals.
Registration for the event begins April 1, 2009, and the entire three-day event costs only $75.00 (early bird discount), or $100.00 (standard ticket).
If you are interested in speaking at the event, the Call for Speakers is currently open, and all submissions must be received no later than March 13th, 2009, to be considered.
For more information, visit: www.devlink.net/Home/tabid/36/Default.aspx
If you couldn’t make it to the 2008 PASS Community Summit in Seattle, WA last fall, perhaps you can attend the European PASS Conference to be held in Neuss, Germany from April 22-24, 2009.
The event includes full-day pre-conferences, technical sessions, with tracks for DBAs, Application Developers, and BI specialists.
To find out more information, visit: european-pass-conference.com.
In addition, the call for speakers is currently open for this event (until February 7, 2009). You can submit speaking abstracts here: call2speakers.european-pass-conference.com.
SQLBits is the largest free SQL Server conference in Europe, and will include 20 hours of SQL Server sessions to select from.
The event is limited to 250 people, and registration for this event opens February 2, 2009, so be sure to register early in order to reserve your spot.
You can find more about this event at: http://www.sqlbits.com/information/faq.aspx
If you are interesting at speaking at this event, the call for speakers is currently open. E-mail sessions@sqlbits.com, or visit the website, for more information.
If you live in the Colorado area, you might want to attend the upcoming, free Rocky Mountain Tech Tri-Fecta event, which will be held Saturday, February 21, 2009. Organized by local .NET, PASS, and Windows Server user groups, it will include over 60 sessions for developers, DBAs and Windows administrators.
You can register for the event at http://www.rmtechtrifecta.com.
If you are interesting speaking at this event, the call for speakers is open. To find out more information about speaking, contact Eric Johnson at ejohnson@consortioservices.com.
If you are thinking about attending DevTeach/SQLTeach in Vancouver this June 8-12, 2009, and you haven't registered yet, you need to now. If you use the rebate code listed below, you can register for 50% off the regular price. What's the catch? You just have to register by February 10, 2009, and you must be the one of the first 30 people to use the code. Don't let this money-saving opportunity pass you by.
Rebate Code: DEVT50OFFVAN
Find out more about this at: www.devteach.com/news.aspx.
