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The Guru[ap]s Guide to SQL Server[tm] Stored Procedures, XML, and HTML Authors: Henderson K. Published year: 2005 Pages: 8-12/223 |
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About the Sample Databases
To make things easier on the reader, this book uses SQL Server's Northwind and pubs sample databases extensively. By using the sample databases that come with the product, I'm helping you avoid having to create lots of custom objects just to understand concepts that can easily be taught using what comes in the box. You'll nearly always be able to determine which database a particular example uses from the surrounding commentary or from the code itself. The Northwind database is used more often than pubs, so when it's not otherwise specified, or when in doubt, use Northwind.
Usually, modifications to these databases are made within transactions so that they can be reversed ; however, for safety's sake, you should probably drop and recreate them after each chapter in which they're changed. The scripts to rebuild them (instnwnd.sql and instpubs.sql) can be found in the \Install subdirectory under the root SQL Server folder.
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Acknowledgments
This is the part of the book where I get to break into a kind of Oscar acceptance speech and thank all the "little people" who made the big night possible. It's where I get to talk about how hard writing books is and how many people made this particular one possible. Well, I'm not going to do that. Those of you who helped with the book know who you are, and you know how much I appreciate your efforts. The book wouldn't have happened without youplain and simple. As always, my wife has arranged our family life around my hectic schedule so that we could give birth, once more, to one of my dreams. For that, I am ever in her debt, and she is ever in my heart.
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About the Author
Ken Henderson is a husband and father who lives in Dallas. When not writing books or software, he enjoys spending time reading, playing music, and watching his kids grow up. Henderson may be reached via email at khen@khen.com.
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Part I: The Basics
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Chapter 1. Stored Procedure Primer
Today, average software development practices are becalmed in a windless sea of code-and-fix programminga kind of flat-earth approach to software development that was proven ineffective 20 years ago.
Steve McConnell [1]
[1] McConnell, Steve. After the Gold Rush . Redmond, WA: Microsoft Press, 1998. Page 91.
Working from the assumption that the human brain learns by associating new data with what it already knows , we'll spend this chapter building a base framework onto which we can assemble the knowledge conveyed by the remainder of the book. We'll touch on the topics covered in the book's other chapters, but we'll save the details for the chapters themselves . I'm assuming that you know some basic Transact-SQL with which we can associate these high-level concepts. We'll spend the remainder of the book filling in the details and expanding on what we cover here.
This chapter serves to prime the discussion on SQL Server stored procedure programming. It will tell you what a stored procedure is, how stored procedures are often used, and why and how you should use them. It will also jumpstart the treatment of Transact-SQL as a full-fledged programming language. If I could have you take one thing away from reading this book, it would be that Transact-SQL programming is very much like any other type of programming: It requires the same attention to detail, the same craftsmanship, and the same software engineering skill to do well.
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The Guru[ap]s Guide to SQL Server[tm] Stored Procedures, XML, and HTML Authors: Henderson K. Published year: 2005 Pages: 8-12/223 |