Microsoft SQL Server 2005 Express Edition For Dummies ... (ISBN 0764599275)

Really helped me understand this product!!:
I downloaded SQL Server for free from microsoft but needed some guidance to help me use the product to its full potential. In searching amazon I came across this book and decided to take a chance. Wow! It gave me a great broad overview of the product without bogging me down in too many details -- great simple writing style, really easy to follow. In a few days, I was up and running with the software. I'm planning on writing an application using Visual Basic and this book has a great tutorial on using it this way. I would highly recommond this book to anyone who needs to learn how to use SQL Server.

We're Dummies, Not Stupid:
The first 100 pages were read before starting to learn anything of real value. Please don't write for the sake of increasing the page volume of a book. Our time is valuable too. Trying to be funny and telling us SQL Server 2005 Express is Free over and over again, chapter after chaper, is ... well ... simply not funny. We're dummies, not stupid. You covered T-SQL relatively well. However, the heart and soul of SQL Server 2005 Express is Stored Procedures, Triggers and SQLCLR - but you barely even scratched the surface. A few pages here and there is not simply enough. So I still feel like a dummy.

A Lot of Good Points about this Book:
There's a whole bunch to like, in my opinion, about this book and only one point that I think is pretty weak. First off, what's there to like. Probably most important is that SQL Server Express is available and it's an extremely powerful software system and it's FREE, a very good price. Second is the book which is written in the typical 'For Dummies' style, with an occasional joke thrown in, that makes it pretty easy to read and yet is doing its job of educating you about the subject. And third, there's a CD-ROM supplied with the book that contains SQL Server Express as well as a lot of ancillary but useful programs to go with it. Yes, you can download SQL Server from the Microsoft web site, but having a CD is a lot easier and faster. The weak point. There's a chapter on migrating from Microsoft Access to SQL Server that primarily talks about upgrading the tables from Access format to SQL Server format using one of the utilities provided. What's missing is a discussion on the differences in Access SQL (based on the 1989 standard) and SQL Server SQL (based on the 1992 standard). If you've used SQL to talk to Access on your previous system, you're in for a bit of a challenge to get it to talk to SQL Server.

rated 5 for value:
For the money spent and the time invested I feel I learned a lot about the subject. Yes, it is a little slow going in the beginning, but not bad. I was actually impressed with the breadth of subjects that this book touched on. No, it did not go in depth on every subject, but it at least gives you a good base to start from. In my experience the Dummies books are always hit and miss. I really think for the money, this is a hit. Joe

Expectations Not Met:
It has been my experience in the past that the "Dummy" books get you up and running quickly with practical information, examples, and not much chaff. That is not the case with this book. While it provides a case for using the product and does a good job of recommending/selling other Microsoft products, it provides little useable information on actually taking SQL Express and doing something useful with it. It is closer to a technical review of the "Express series" than a how-to book.