In Advanced Transact-SQL for SQL Server 2000, authors Itzik Ben-Gan and Thomas Moreau explore the powerful capabilities of Transact-SQL (T-SQL). Ben-Gan and Moreau offer solutions to common problems encountered using all versions of SQL Server, with a focus on the latest version, SQL Server 2000. Expert tips and real code examples teach advanced database programmers to write more efficient and better-performing code that takes full advantage of T-SQL. The authors offer practical solutions to the everyday problems programmers face and include in-depth information on advanced T-SQL topics such as joins, subqueries, stored procedures, triggers, user-defined functions (UDFs), indexed views, cascading actions, federated views, hierarchical structures, cursors, and more.

Demonstrates the SQL Server 2000 programming fundamentals, including database structures and TransactSQL.

This book is written for SQL Server 2008. However, it does maintain roots going back a few versions and looks out for backward compatibility issues with SQL Server 2005 and SQL Server 2000. These versions are old enough that there is little to no time spent on them except in passing. The book is oriented around developing on SQL server. Most of the concepts are agnostic to what client language you use although the examples that leverage a client language general do so in C#. For those who are migrating from early versions of SQL Server, some “gotchas” that exist any time a product has versions are discussed to the extent that they seem to be a genuinely relevant issue. This book assumes that you have some experience with SQL Server and are at an intermediate to advanced level. The orientation of the book is highly developer focused. While there is a quick reference-oriented appendix, there is very little coverage given to beginner level topics. It is assumed that you already have experience with data manipulation language (DML) statements and know the basics of the mainstream SQL Server objects (views, stored procedures, user defined functions, etc.). If you would like to brush up on your knowledge before diving into this book, the author recommends reading Beginning SQL Server 2008 Programming first. There is very little overlap between the Beginning and Professional books and they are designed to work as a pair.

Transact-SQL is a procedural language used on both Microsoft SQL Server and Sybase SQL Server systems. It is a full-featured programming language that dramatically extends the power of SQL (Structured Query Language).The language provides programmers with a broad range of features, including: A rich set of datatypes, including specialized types for identifiers, timestamps, images, and long text fieldsLocal and global variablesFully programmable server objects like views, triggers, stored procedures, and batch command filesConditional processingException and error handlingFull transaction controlSystem stored procedures that reduce the complexity of many operations, like adding users or automatically generating HTML Web pagesIn recent years, the versions of Transact-SQL have diverged on Microsoft and Sybase systems; the book explains the differences. It also contains up-to-the-minute information on the latest versions: Microsoft SQL Server versions 6.5 and 7.0 and Sybase version 11.5.A brief table of contents follows: PART I: The Basics: Programming in Transact-SQL1. Introduction to Transact-SQL2. Matching Business Rules3. SQL Primer4. Transact-SQL Fundamentals5. Format and StylePART II: The Building Blocks: Transact-SQL Language Elements6. Datatypes and Variables7. Conditional Processing8. Row Processing with Cursors9. Error Handling10. Temporary Objects11. Transactions and LoggingPART III: Functions and Extensions12. Functions13. CASE Expressions and Transact-SQL ExtensionsPART IV: Programming Transact-SQL Objects14. Stored Procedures and Modular Design15. Triggers16. Views17. System and Extended Stored Procedures and BCPPART V: Performance Tuning and Optimization18. Transact-SQL Code Design19. Code Maintenance in the SQL Server20. Transact-SQL Optimization and Tuning21. Debugging Transact-SQL ProgramsPART VI: AppendixesA. System TablesB. What's New for Transact-SQL in Microsoft SQL Server 7.0? C. BCPThe book comes with a CD-ROM containing an extensive set of examples from the book and complete programs that illustrate the power of the language.

Encoded characteristic functions (ECF) is a new, innovative SQL programming methodology which allows programmers to encode conditional logic as scalar expressions within certain clauses. These extremely powerful techniques are presented by the authors of ECF in "Optimizing Transact-SQL".

T-SQL insiders help you tackle your toughest queries and query-tuning problems Squeeze maximum performance and efficiency from every T-SQL query you write or tune. Four leading experts take an in-depth look at T-SQL’s internal architecture and offer advanced practical techniques for optimizing response time and resource usage. Emphasizing a correct understanding of the language and its foundations, the authors present unique solutions they have spent years developing and refining. All code and techniques are fully updated to reflect new T-SQL enhancements in Microsoft SQL Server 2014 and SQL Server 2012. Write faster, more efficient T-SQL code: Move from procedural programming to the language of sets and logic Master an efficient top-down tuning methodology Assess algorithmic complexity to predict performance Compare data aggregation techniques, including new grouping sets Efficiently perform data-analysis calculations Make the most of T-SQL’s optimized bulk import tools Avoid date/time pitfalls that lead to buggy, poorly performing code Create optimized BI statistical queries without additional software Use programmable objects to accelerate queries Unlock major performance improvements with In-Memory OLTP Master useful and elegant approaches to manipulating graphs About This Book For experienced T-SQL practitioners Includes coverage updated from Inside Microsoft SQL Server 2008 T-SQL Querying and Inside Microsoft SQL Server 2008 T-SQL Programming Valuable to developers, DBAs, BI professionals, and data scientists Covers many MCSE 70-464 and MCSA/MCSE 70-461 exam topics

Execution plans show you what's going on behind the scenes in SQL Server. They can provide you with a wealth of information on how your queries are being executed by SQL Server, including: Which indexes are being used, and where no indexes are being used at all. How the data is being retrieved, and joined, from the tables defi ned in your query. How aggregations in GROUP BY queries are put together. The anticipated load and the estimated cost that all these operations place upon the system. Grant Fritchey's book is the only in-depth look at how to improve your SQL query performance through careful design of execution plans. Sample chapters of the ebook have garnered stunning reviews, such as: "All I can say is WOW. This has to be the best reference I have ever seen on Execution Plans in SQL Server. My hats off to Grant Fritchey" Jonathan Kehayias.