Guru's Guide to SQL Server Architecture and Internals, The

Introduction

One day I started writing, not knowing that I had chained myself for life to a noble but merciless master. When God hands you a gift, he hands you a whip; and the whip is intended solely for self-flagellation. . . . I'm here alone in my dark madness, all by myself with my deck of cards—and, of course, the whip God gave me.

—Truman Capote^[1]

^[1] Capote, Truman. Music for Chameleons (reprint edition). New York: Vintage Books, 1994, pp. xi and xix.

I wrote this book to get inside SQL Server. I wanted to see what we could learn about the product and the technologies on which it's based through the use of a freely downloadable debugger, a few well-placed xprocs, and a lot of tenacity. The book you're reading is the result of that experiment. ...