Summary

I could have written a complete book about the features of the SQL Server 2005 client and management tools. In this chapter you learned what you will need to know to write SQL queries and choose the best tool for the job. Depending upon your role and objectives, you will use different tools to do different things.

If you are a database administrator, you will likely spend much of your time using the SQL Computer Manager to configure servers and manage the services that comprise SQL Server. You will likely spend most of your time using the SQL Server Management Studio to secure databases, create, monitor, and tune various database objects, and you may use the SQLCMD utility to run SQL scripts on the command line.

If you are an architect or solution designer, you may use the SQL Server Management Studio to diagram and generate database objects and the SQL Query Editor to create stored procedures, functions, and views to optimize database access. You may also use Microsoft Visio and the advanced solution design tools in Visual Studio and the Business Intelligence Studio to design and manage database projects.

If you are an application developer, you will likely spend most of your time developing software and creating integrated stored procedures and views in the Visual Studio integrated database design environment, and using SQL Server Management Studio to create and manage database objects. You may also use these tools to design and deploy reports using SQL Server Reporting Services.

It's often difficult to draw a clear distinction between these roles anymore. This is why these tools are tightly integrated and contain overlapping features and capabilities. Fortunately, they have been designed to work together and provide a consistent user experience. Once you have mastered the Management Studio, for example, you should be able to open the Business Intelligence Studio and work comfortably with the menus, toolbars, tool windows, and similar features.

As you read on, I will make reference to some of these tools but you will spend most of your time using the SQL Server Management Studio for SQL Server 2005 and the Query Analyzer for SQL Server 2000. To use the Transact-SQL language, you don't need to be concerned about the features of a particular design application, but you will find these features useful when you go to design entire database solutions, debug queries, and tune database objects.