Resources for learning T-SQL

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Resources for learning T-SQL

Rad-1011401

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February 25, 2009 at 3:46 am

#103692

Can you provide websites/books/info to fully learn and master T-SQL.
I sometimes struggle and waste time on semi simple T-SQL code and I'm at the point where I need to learn it from A-Z, including the best approach taken when tackling problems.
Any info is much appreciated.

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Tim Mitchell SSCoach Points: 15685 More actions · Answer 1

Although there's not really an all-inclusive guide, you can find a number of resources that can collectively help you to learn Transact-SQL.

As far as a book to start with, I really enjoyed the O'Reilly T-SQL Cookbook (http://oreilly.com/catalog/9781565927568/). It's got some realistic programming scenarios and suggested solutions, divided into bite-sized chunks.

You can also check out free video training sites such as JumpstartTV.com. Also, there are tens of thousands of tutorials and how-tos for specific topics that can be found on the web.

I would recommend that, whatever resources you use, that you practice much and often. You will learn a great deal from observing and reading, but there's nothing quite like doing it yourself. Get a test machine to play with, even if it's just the free SQL Express edition and the Adventureworks database, and practice writing queries against it. Read the forums on this and other SQL Server websites to see some of the problems posed by others as well as the suggested solutions.

Good luck to you!

Tim

Tim Mitchell
TimMitchell.net | @tmitch.net | Tyleris.com
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Tim Mitchell SSCoach Points: 15685 More actions · Answer 2

One other thing to remember: Don't be discouraged if you don't master it overnight, because you won't. Nobody does. Have patience, stick with it, and know that you'll make mistakes and learn from them.

Tim Mitchell
TimMitchell.net | @tmitch.net | Tyleris.com
ETL Best Practices

crookj SSChampion Points: 14075 More actions · Answer 3

While good instruction books are critical, I find that reviewing the posts on this site are extremely helpful. I see a ton of issues that I come across and the solutions posted are very helpful to finding a solution. Another point I would like to make is... When using a book - you get 1 opinion (the author's) but while using these forums you get a very wide review from all levels of expertise from the super experienced to the forum newbees.

Joe