MCTS Self-Paced Training Kit (Exam 70-433): Microsoft SQL Server 2008-Database Development: Microsoft SQL Server 2008 Database Development |  | Authors: Tobias Thernstrom, Ann Weber, Mike Hotek, GrandMasters
Publisher: Microsoft Press
Category: Book
List Price: $69.99
Buy New: $36.00
as of 7/30/2010 03:50 CDT details
You Save: $33.99 (49%)
New (18) Used (13) from $36.00
Seller: lionfriend
Rating:  13 reviews
Sales Rank: 10403
Platform: Not Machine Specific
Media: Hardcover
Edition: 1
Pages: 496
Number Of Items: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 2.6
Dimensions (in): 7.7 x 1.4 x 9.5
ISBN: 0735626391
Dewey Decimal Number: 005
EAN: 9780735626393
ASIN: 0735626391
Publication Date: May 20, 2009
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Product Description
Ace your preparation for the skills measured by MCTS Exam 70-433—and on the job. Work at your own pace through a series of lessons and reviews that fully cover each exam objective. Then, reinforce and apply what youâve learned through real-world case scenarios and practice exercises. This official Microsoft study guide is designed to help you make the most of your study time. Maximize your performance on the exam by learning to: - Create and manage database objects
- Query and modify data; implement subqueries and CTEs * Optimize table structures and data integrity
- Create stored procedures, functions, and triggers
- Manage transactions, error handling, and change tracking
- Tune query performance
- Implement database mail, full-text search, Service Broker, scripts
- Work with XML and SQLCLR Assess your skills with the practice tests on CD. You can work through hundreds of questions using multiple testing modes to meet your specific learning needs. You get detailed explanations for right and wrong answers—including a customized learning path that describes how and where to focus your studies.
Your kit includes: - 15% exam discount from Microsoft. Offer expires 12/31/13. Details inside.
- Official self-paced study guide.
- Practice tests with multiple, customizable testing options and a learning plan based on your results.
- 200 practice and review questions.
- 180-day trial of SQL Server 2008 Enterprise Edition.
- Case scenarios, exercises, and best practices.
- Fully searchable eBook of this guide, plus sample chapters from related books.
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| Customer Reviews:
Showing reviews 1-5 of 13
 I passed, using this book mostly. May 7, 2010
bongo (Denver, CO USA)
3 out of 3 found this review helpful
FWIW, I passed the test with this book and it's practice exam as my primary, but not exclusive, resources.
PROS:
The book gives a good overview of what's up with 2008 and what's on the test. It divides it all up into neatly digestible sections. It's clearly written.
One of the best things about the book is that it comes with a practice exam on CD. The practice exam has roughly 30 questions for each of the 7 sections:
Implementing Tables and Views
Implementing Programming Objects
Working with Query Fundamentals
Applying Additional Query Techniques
Working with Additional SQL Server Components
Working with XML Data
Gathering Performance Information.
It comes with some source code, so I was able to play around with the concepts in my own instance of SQL Server. Very cool.
CONS:
It's a little longish. Could have been more concise. (Then again, this is a problem I have with almost all the tech books I get these days.) Some of the sample code code have been a little clearer by using simpler examples. The practice exam questions were harder than the ones on the test. (This might be a good thing. If you can pass the practice one you should be able to pass the real one.)
In sum, I wouldn't say it's a perfect book but it really helped me and I doubt I would have made the grade w/o it.
 Microsoft SQL Server 2008 Training Kit series March 31, 2010
L. Pertum
The "Microsoft SQL Server 2008 Training Kit" series was highly recommended to me by an Instructor. I agree with the Instructor's recommendation. The Microsoft Training Kit series includes sample exams that also give you the following info. after you've completed the exam: 1) detailed explanations (with additional references) for the correct answers, 2) an assessment of your total score and the areas to concentrate on to improve your score. --- My money was sell spent. --- Lynne
Excellent preparation material March 30, 2010
Michael J. Mcmahon Jr. (Reno, NV USA)
2 out of 3 found this review helpful
I, as well as others, used this book as my only preparation material for the exam. I have always used the Microsoft Press preparation material for all my exams. In all cases, I have passed the exam with a good margin - this was no exception.
The book material was the typical high-quality content that I've come to expect from Microsoft Press and its authors. The relevant exam topics were covered quite well in most cases. After making two passes through the book, I felt ready for the exam. There were a few chapters that I felt should have been placed in different areas of the book, but only because they would have led into one another better in a different order, as opposed to the frequent forward references they made. I also felt that a little more attention to TRY...CATCH blocks, collations, and RAISERROR would have been nice to see - especially the interaction between TRY...CATCH and RAISERROR.
The practice exams, on the other hand, were a bit more dubious. While I felt the book was an excellent preparation, when I took the practice tests, I felt like the book was insufficient. After my second pass through the book and another attempt at the exams, I had the feeling that the practice tests were a bit unrealistic. Many of the questions covered topics that were not addressed in the book, or gave very detailed and almost obscure questions on topics that were not addressed. Additionally, there were a good number of management questions that didn't seem to fit the scope of the exam. These questions led me to realize that I was prepared for the exam, despite a low score on the practice tests - a realization that was quite accurate. However, the advantage to these questions was a good bit of research that was useful on the exam.
Overall, the preparation material of this book is excellent, though the practice exams are a bit lacking and incorrectly-targeted. I certainly recommend the book for anybody that would like to take the exam - just don't put too much stock in the test exams.
 I love it, I hate it March 3, 2010
Jose A. Campo (Houston, TX)
3 out of 3 found this review helpful
I do have a love/hate relationship with this book. There are nice things on it and others that I really dislike.
The positive side, it is a clear and concise book. Explanations are easy to follow, plenty of graphics and not a lot of "blah blah blah" trying to explain a simple T-SQL statement or query; that's good, I really love those kind of books because don't make me waste my precious time :-) To give you an example, I found very clear its explanation about SQL2005/2008 partitions; the previous SQL2005 cert book, 70-431, put more details and more complex examples on that particular topic, that could confuses you a bit.
The negative side is that this is intended to pass the Microsoft certification, not just a mere T-SQL or developer book. If that was the case, I could give a higher rating. But people who get or buy this book (not me on this case) are investing their money in something will help them to pass the Microsoft test with little or not effort, assuming you read it from cover to cover. I do not feel or I do not think that's the case here or the book allow you to do that. Explanations are short, the book itself is thin, so all obscure and weird options that we do have in T-SQL won't be here, in fact, they are not. And that's misleading, because when you seat for the real test, Microsoft will try to "kill" you with really strange T-SQL options and queries that you barely see in real world.
At this point you maybe wonder why I bought it? well ... I opened it in a popular bookstore and enjoyed the way has been written. I need to improve my programming skills, not my dba skills, and this book satisfies that need. I am currently not pursuing this cert. and because that reason, I believe is or was money well spent.
If you're new or not an experienced T-SQL programmer, do not rely on this book only to pass the Microsoft test, get another resource, like "Microsoft SQL Server 2008 T-SQL Fundamentals" from Itzik Ben-Gan. Itzik's book is pure gold, awesome book. Both provide a better coverage for the 70-433 test.
 VERY incomplete December 16, 2009
J. Strickland
4 out of 5 found this review helpful
This book doesn't even come close to covering the topics in the 70-433 exam. That wouldn't be such a problem is MS didn't market it as a preparation spcifically for that exam. I think that is very unethical.
If you go for the test without a considerable amount of SQL2008 and other version experience or training you are going to be in trouble when you take the exam.
Maybe that explains the steep discount. At least the book will make up a part of my reference library.
Showing reviews 1-5 of 13
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