In this book, the world’s leading practitioners of SQL Server present a collection of articles on techniques and best practices for SQL Server development and administration based on their many years of combined experience. The 64 MVPs who contributed to the book each picked an area of special interest to them and shared their insights and practical know-how with you. The topics covered will appeal to a broad range of readers with varied levels of SQL Server experience, from beginner to advanced.

How the book is organized

This book has 60 chapters divided into five parts that correspond to the 5 job roles involving SQL Server:

• Part 1 Database architecture and design
• Part 2 Database development
• Part 3 Database administration
• Part 4 Performance tuning and optimization
• Part 5 Business intelligence

There is no rigid construction to the book, no list of SQL Server features or versions that needed to be covered. The contributors to the book submitted abstracts on their topics of expertise, and these were added to the appropriate sections. The section editors reviewed the abstracts and chose the ones that best fit into their grouping of chapters.

Source code

All source code in listings or in text is in a fixed-width font like this to separate it from ordinary text. The source code for the examples in this book is available online from the publisher’s website at www.manning.com/SQLServerMVPDeep DivesVol2. The source code is organized by chapter, but please note that not all chapters have code listings in them.

Author Online

The purchase of SQL Server MVP Deep Dives, Volume 2 includes free access to a private web forum run by Manning Publications, where you can make comments about the book, ask technical questions, and receive help from the authors and from other users. To access the forum and subscribe to it, point your web browser to www.manning.com/SQLServerMVPDeepDivesVol2.

This page provides information about how to get on the forum once you’re registered, what kind of help is available, and the rules of conduct on the forum. Manning’s commitment to our readers is to provide a venue where a meaningful dialogue between individual readers and between readers and the authors can take place. It’s not a commitment to any specific amount of participation on the part of the authors, whose contributions to the book’s forum (as well as all authors’ contributions to the book itself) remain voluntary (and unpaid).

The Author Online forum and the archives of previous discussions will be accessible from the publisher’s website as long as the book is in print.