E-Books →Beginning T-SQL A Step-by-Step Approach

Beginning T-SQL starts you on the path to mastering T-SQL with an emphasis on best practices. Using the sound coding techniques taught in this book will lead to excellent performance in the queries that you write in your daily work. Important techniques such as windowing functions are covered to help you write fast-executing queries that solve real business problems.The book begins with an introduction to databases, normalization, and to setting up your learning environment. You will learn about the tools you need to use such as SQL Server Management Studio, Azure Data Studio, and SQL Notebooks. Each subsequent chapter teaches an aspect of T-SQL, building on the skills learned in previous chapters. Exercises in most chapters provide an opportunity for the hands-on practice that leads to true learning and distinguishes the competent professional.
A stand-out feature in this book is that most chapters end with a Thinking About Performance section. These sections cover aspects of query performance relative to the content just presented, including the new Intelligent Query Processing features that make queries faster without changing code. They will help you avoid beginner mistakes by knowing about and thinking about performance from day 1.
What You Will Learn
Install a sandboxed SQL Server instance for learning
Understand how relational databases are designed
Create objects such as tables and stored procedures
Query a SQL Server table
Filter and order the results of a query
Query and work with specialized data types such as XML and JSON
Apply modern features such as window functions
Choose correct techniques so that your queries perform well