This is an excellent book. It is a collaborative work

consisting of roughly 12 authors. This collaborative approach to writing

presents the subject matter in a well-rounded and unbiased manner. As the

introduction states, this book is for 'developers with experience in SQL

2000', but I think anyone with SQL development experience will find this book

highly resourceful. This book goes right to the 'meat' of the matter,

spending little time rehashing database fundamentals, which I like. Too many

books cover the same material with only a chapter or two of unique and new

information.

'Professional

SQL Server 2000 XML' deals with the new integration of XML into SQL

Server. There are many new features available, so many in fact, that it can

be a bit overwhelming. Here are just a few of the new XML features in SQL

2000 that this book covers:

• FOR XML
• OPENXML
• XML VIEWS
• Updategram
• XML Bulkload

I thought the best way to review this book would be to find an application

for the use of these new XML features. Then, benchmark the resourcefulness of

the information presented against how well it dealt with answering any

questions I might have. To sum it up...'Professional SQL Server 2000 XML'

leaves no stone unturned. This book does a thorough and complete job of

explaining and presenting the subject matter. Chapters are riddled with code

examples to make the venture into SQL XML virtually painless.

Some of the new features I found particularly exciting were FOR XML,

OPENXML and Updategrams. These tools allow the utmost flexibility in dealing

with the need to transfer and modify data. Updategrams specifically allow the

modification of data without any knowledge of ADO or SQL. This can offer a

great alternative to traditional programming techniques for data access.

On a scale of 1 to 10, I would rate this book a 9...No one is perfect. The

only aspects of this book that I viewed as needing improvement were several

of the case studies. They did not offer as much insightful information as I

would have hoped. Overall, this is a terrific book, a great look into the

world of XML and SQL.

*SQLServerCentral.com will be giving away a copy of this book, provided by

Wrox, to one of our August readers.