Good training book
I am in a SQL Database Implementation and Design class right now, and the lessons provided in the book do a good job at instilliong SQL code into your mind.
Exam 70-229
Fairly good book with some problems in repetitive text. Do NOT count on this book as your only resource for the 70-229 exam. Then again, it's foolish to expect to pay $40 to pass this very difficult exam. I passed the exam but used a test engine endorsed by Microsoft.
Bottom line: Outstanding value @ $40. Four stars because of the repetitive text, otherwise I would give it five.
Works for getting the basics and cert prep
Not being interested in certification, I was looking for something that would get me the basics, and tell me where to go to get the meat. This book is doing that. Includes a MS SQL Server 2000 120 day use installation disk. The install includes the "Books On Line" (a source of a lot of meat).
Not caring if this is good for cert test prep, and having never taken a cert test, I can't tell you if it is a good prep. It hase provided a good portion of the information I was looking for, and helped me understand the changes / inhancements in MS SQL 2005.
4 stars because I am seldom overwhelmed with something.
Simply badly designed for exams
I believe that the writers made some bad choices when they first began to write this book. First of all, unlike most other certification books the exam goals are not together in one section. Instead there are whole chapters for queries, indexes, views, etc with all of the information about each topic in that chapter. So if you wanted to read about 'query optimization' you would have to read the sections within that chapter about query optimation from the queries chapter, from the index chapter, some from the views chapter, etc. So if you want to review a specific topic that you are not as good at you will be doing a lot of page flipping.
Second the book is too thick. It contains a lot of information that i doudt that you will actually get on the exam (like estimating the size of a table). It also has about a 100-150 page objective by objective index at the back with questions. But these sections seem to be fragmented from the rest of the book and do not have enough information to truely learn the objective. The first part of the book seems to be written as an introduction to databases book rather then a certification book, and i dont think that i would use this book to introduce myself to databases anyway.
Third: the practice certification exam does not work. The practice exam is an exam that seems to have an embeded internet explorer and is ran by javascript. I have no clue why you would use javascript to create a practice exam. Anyway i get the 'error running these scripts, would you like to continue running scripts on this page error' and i am unable to run the exam. I am using windows xp service pack 2 internet explorer 6.1.
I personally went out and bought the exam cram for 229 and it seems to be much better.
This Won't Prepare You For 70-229 But a Good Starting Point.
This book is a very easy read, explains concepts clearly, but lacks the kind of detail necessary for passing the 70-229 exam, especially if you are taking this as an elective on the developer track. It will get you through most of what you need to know at 10,000 feet, but it will not take you to a passing score. It taught me things I had never used and for that it is well worth the time investment. I also love the fact that you can install the "e-book" on a laptop and a desktop at home and never carry the hard cover book around.
I had been using SQL Server 2000 for years and thought this would be a snap for me. After reading this book I thought I was ready for the test. On the practice exam I saw words that were used that I had no idea what the context was. Those functions are not discussed in this book but you can trust they will be covered completely on the test! You will thoroughly need to know things like triggers, functions and constraints, and all their possible parameters, or you will not be prepared for the exam.
After going through the book you will be ready for the material that is available at the practice test vendors Microsoft recommends at the Microsoft Web sites for MCAD & MCSD Certification. I am not trying to promote any company and I have nothing to gain by saying the following: The study guide I purchased for about the cost of this book prepared me for the exam. This book prepared me for the study guide.
(19 reviews)
