Professional Microsoft® SQL Server® 2008 Programming

Chapter 2. Tool Time

If you are already familiar with the SQL Server Management Studio (which would imply you are moving from a SQL Server 2005 environment or have already been working with SQL Server 2008), then this is a chapter (probably the last) you can probably get away with only skimming for new stuff. If you decide to skim, you may want to slow down going through some of the more seldom used tools such as the Configuration Manager and the discussion of Net-Libraries (usually just referred to as NetLibs). Again, if you're new to all of this, I would suggest swallowing your pride and starting with the Beginning SQL Server 2008 Programming title — it covers the basics in far more detail. For this book, our purpose in covering the stuff in the first few chapters is really more about providing a reference than anything else, with an additional smattering of new stuff.

With that in mind, it's time to move on to the toolset. If you are skipping forward in versions from SQL Server 2000 or earlier, then this is where you'll want to pay particular attention. Back in SQL Server 2005, the toolset changed — a lot. SQL Server 2008 adds some new nodes within the SQL Server 2005 tools and moves around a few more.

For old fogies such as me, the new tools are a rather nasty shock to the system. For people new to SQL Server, I would say that the team has largely met a 2005 design goal to greatly simplify the tools. In general, there are far fewer places to look for things, and most of the toolset ...