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.

The new edition of the successful previous version is 25 percent revised and packed with more than 200 pages of new material on the 2008 release of SQL Server Integration Services (SSIS) Renowned author Brian Knight and his expert coauthors show developers how to master the 2008 release of SSIS, which is both more powerful and more complex than ever Case studies and tutorial examples acquired over the three years since the previous edition will contribute to helping illustrate advanced concepts and techniques New chapters include coverage of data warehousing using SSIS, new methods for managing the SSIS platform, and improved techniques for ETL operations

SQL Server 2005 offers the capability to write code in a .NET language that can be compiled and run inside SQL Server. CLR Integration, or SQL CLR, lets you create stored procedures, user-defined types, triggers, table valued functions, and aggregates using a .NET managed language. You can read and write to resources outside of SQL Server and enjoy a tighter integration with XML, web services, and simple file and logging capabilities. Here's the reference you'll want on your desk as you develop SQL CLR solutions. It helps you decide whether to use SQL CLR, how to lock down security, and learn from real examples. If you want to develop stored procedures or other objects in .NET for SQL Server 2005, this book offers exactly what you need. What you will learn from this book The concepts and architecture of SQL CLR Uses of .NET namespaces in SQL Server programming tasks How to develop and benchmark routines in T-SQL and .NET to determine when CLR-based solutions are advantageous How to replace extended stored procedures using SQL CLR stored procedures How to use SQL CLR objects in external applications How to restrict and secure SQL CLR object capabilities Processes and procedures for deploying SQL CLR objects Who this book is for This book is for developers and architects who are familiar with .NET concepts as well as DBAs who, although developers in their own right, may be slightly less up to date on .NET. A solid grounding in T-SQL is necessary. Wrox Professional guides are planned and written by working programmers to meet the real-world needs of programmers, developers, and IT professionals. Focused and relevant, they address the issues technology professionals face every day. They provide examples, practical solutions, and expert education in new technologies, all designed to help programmers do a better job.

* An essential book for new and migration projects for SQL Server 2005: will ensure that that such projects have a well-designed database and secure, optimized data access strategies right from the start. * Describes all new SQL Server 2005 features related to physical database design and provides completely new chapters on designing for fast data access, and exploiting .NET code in the database for optimum distribution of application logic. * An excellent foundation for MCAD/MCSE/MCDBA Database Design and Implementation exam. * Deep experience and advice, along with many tips or tricks, from an MVP lead author with over ten years of experience with SQL Server.

Professional SQL Server 2005 Programming shows experienced developers how to master the substantially revamped feature set of the latest release of Microsoft SQL Server. The book begins with a concise overview of the new features of SQL Server that is of interest to experienced developers. This is especially important given the substantial changes to SQL Server with this release. From there, the book quickly moves on to the ?meat? of the title. Beginning-level material has been removed to provide more room for covering new features and more extensive code examples.

While building on the skills you already have, Expert SQL Server 2005 Development will help you become an even better developer by focusing on best practices and demonstrating how to design high–performance, maintainable database applications. This book starts by reintroducing the database as a integral part of the software development ecosystem. You'll learn how to think about SQL Server development as you would any other software development. For example, there's no reason you can't architect and test database routines just as you would architect and test application code. And nothing should stop you from implementing the types of exception handling and security rules that are considered so important in other tiers, even if they are usually ignored in the database. You'll learn how to apply development methodologies like these to produce high–quality encryption and SQLCLR solutions. Furthermore, you'll discover how to exploit a variety of tools that SQL Server offers in order to properly use dynamic SQL and to improve concurrency in your applications. Finally, you'll become well versed in implementing spatial and temporal database designs, as well as approaching graph and hierarchy problems.

After a quick primer on database design basics and the SQL query language (for those programmers who may be building their first database application), this book provides an overview of SQL Server itself, which has been dramatically redesigned with the 2005 release Once readers have grasped the fundamentals of database design and SQL concepts, they will then learn how to implement those concepts with Microsoft SQL Server 2005 Addresses creating and changing tables, managing keys, database normalization, writing scripts, working with stored procedures, programming with XML, and using SQL Server reporting and data transformation services The companion Web site provides all of the code found in the book