Beginning T-SQL with Microsoft® SQL Server® 2005 and 2008

Introduction

Welcome to the world of Transact-Structured Query Language programming with SQL Server 2005 and 2008. Transact-SQL, or T-SQL, is Microsoft Corporation's powerful implementation of the ANSI standard SQL database query language, which was designed to retrieve, manipulate, and add data to relational database management systems (RDBMS).

You may already have a basic idea of what SQL is used for, but you may not have a good understanding of the concepts behind relational databases and the purpose of SQL. This book will help you build a solid foundation of understanding, beginning with core relational database concepts and continuing to reinforce those concepts with real-world T-SQL query applications.

If you are familiar with relational database concepts but are new to Microsoft SQL Server or the T-SQL language, this book will teach you the basics from the ground up. If you're familiar with earlier versions of SQL Server, it will get you up to speed on the newest features. And if you know SQL Server 2005, you'll learn about some exciting new capabilities in SQL Server 2008.

A popular online encyclopedia lists about 800 distinct programming languages in use today. These languages are used to develop different types of applications for different types of computer systems and specialized devices. Needless to say, we have a lot of software in our information-rich society. Programming languages rapidly evolve and come and go, but one of few constants in the industry is that most ...