First post here - help with installation of 2012 or 2019 Sql Server Express

  • Hi everyone! This is my first post on this subreddit. I'm absolutely new to the Sql world and I just signed up for a Udemy course to start learning about SQL. The first thing the teacher requires us to do is to install Microsoft Sql Express 2012 from the Microsoft website. However, when I went to the site, there was a message error saying that it wasn't found and among the options that are available for download I found the 2019 version or something called "Microsoft® SQL Server® 2012 Service Pack 2 (SP2) Express". I am kinda lost here, I downloaded the 2019 version but I have no idea whether it's the same as the 2012 one. Moreover, I'm supposed to also install the database engine and the SQL Server Management Studio and the 2019 installation doesn't mention any of those two components.

    Could you please guide me on this process? I can't start the course if I don't install the necessary programs and I'm super lost!

    I'd really appreciate it!

  • Welcome.

    First of all, this is not a subreddit, but a 'proper' Web site!

    SQL Server 2012 is well and truly out of date and IMO you should be learning a later version (2017 or higher). These versions have many useful functions and features which did not exist in the 2012 version.

    SQL Server 2019 Developer Edition is what I would suggest you install. This gives you the database engine. After that, install SSMS (SQL Server Management Studio). I can track down links if you cannot find them.

    Developer Edition is free to use in non-production environments. It is a 'full' version of SQL Server, unlike Express, which is a cut-down and limited version which may be used in production environments. But as you're learning, you want access to everything.

    If you haven't even tried to resolve your issue, please don't expect the hard-working volunteers here to waste their time providing links to answers which you could easily have found yourself.

  • SQL Server Management Studio is a separate install: https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/sql/ssms/download-sql-server-management-studio-ssms?view=sql-server-ver15

     

  • janilpebo wrote:

    Hi everyone! This is my first post on this subreddit. I'm absolutely new to the Sql world and I just signed up for a Udemy course to start learning about SQL. The first thing the teacher requires us to do is to install Microsoft Sql Express 2012 from the Microsoft website. However, when I went to the site, there was a message error saying that it wasn't found and among the options that are available for download I found the 2019 version or something called "Microsoft® SQL Server® 2012 Service Pack 2 (SP2) Express".

    That is the correct download. This page has it. You will have to decide if you're running 32 or 64 bit, but other than that, it should be a pretty straightforward install. Use the documentation.

    Although, I am 100% with Phil, you should be learning on a newer version of SQL Server. 2012 is currently four versions back (soon to be five). Technology has radically shifted since then.

    I am kinda lost here, I downloaded the 2019 version but I have no idea whether it's the same as the 2012 one. Moreover, I'm supposed to also install the database engine and the SQL Server Management Studio and the 2019 installation doesn't mention any of those two components.

    The engine is another way to refer to an instance of SQL Server. It refers to the RDBMS software itself. SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS) is just a GUI interface for interacting with the server/engine/instance. They are two installs. This is because, usually, out in the wild, you'll see the production database server in one place, and the applications manipulating and consuming data in another, hence, two installs.

    Could you please guide me on this process? I can't start the course if I don't install the necessary programs and I'm super lost!

    I'd really appreciate it!

    I hope that helps a little.

    Again, I'm with Phil, go for 2019 Developer Edition. Probably every single thing they have you do in class will work on it. Nothing has been removed from 2019 since 2012, just stuff added.

    "The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood"
    - Theodore Roosevelt

    Author of:
    SQL Server Execution Plans
    SQL Server Query Performance Tuning

  • Lordy.  I agree with the others.  Using a decade old version of SQL Express instead of the current version or at least previous version of SQL server of the SQL Developer Edition is just wrong.  The real 2012 isn't even supported any more.

    You can still learn a lot of the basics using such an old version but, unless there's no other way to get the credits for passing the course, this is just being totally lazy on the part of the teacher and I'd be looking to get my money back and go somewhere else.

    janilpebo wrote:

    Hi everyone! This is my first post on this subreddit. I'm absolutely new to the Sql world and I just signed up for a Udemy course to start learning about SQL. The first thing the teacher requires us to do is to install Microsoft Sql Express 2012 from the Microsoft website. However, when I went to the site, there was a message error saying that it wasn't found and among the options that are available for download I found the 2019 version or something called "Microsoft® SQL Server® 2012 Service Pack 2 (SP2) Express". I am kinda lost here, I downloaded the 2019 version but I have no idea whether it's the same as the 2012 one. Moreover, I'm supposed to also install the database engine and the SQL Server Management Studio and the 2019 installation doesn't mention any of those two components.

    Could you please guide me on this process? I can't start the course if I don't install the necessary programs and I'm super lost!

    I'd really appreciate it!

    Hmmm... using decade old versions that hasn't been supported for a while now... not double checking links before giving them to students... there are a couple of other red flags going on here, as well.   I have the greatest of respect for most teachers but not for lazy ones.  Unless you need to get through this course for university credits or something job related or it's otherwise the "only show in town", I'd be looking to get my money back and find another course that doesn't mind actually keeping up with current technology.

    --Jeff Moden


    RBAR is pronounced "ree-bar" and is a "Modenism" for Row-By-Agonizing-Row.
    First step towards the paradigm shift of writing Set Based code:
    ________Stop thinking about what you want to do to a ROW... think, instead, of what you want to do to a COLUMN.

    Change is inevitable... Change for the better is not.


    Helpful Links:
    How to post code problems
    How to Post Performance Problems
    Create a Tally Function (fnTally)

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