C H A P T E R  12

Where to Go Next?

I hope you have enjoyed learning about T-SQL as much as I have enjoyed writing about it. Not everyone is cut out to be a T-SQL developer; it helps to really enjoy writing code. Programming is not something you can just learn and be done with it. You will continue to learn new techniques as long as you are programming T-SQL. The other thing you can count on is that Microsoft will continue to add new features to SQL Server, including new T-SQL features, giving you more to learn about. In fact, this book describes numerous, completely new T-SQL enhancements only found in SQL Server 2012. I can guarantee the next SQL Server release will have even more.

You may have read this book from cover to cover, typing in all the sample code and performing the exercises found in most of the chapters. If you are like me, you may have just skipped around looking for specific knowledge as you needed it, using the book as a reference. Either way, you would have found simple examples that showed you how to use a specific feature or solve a particular problem. Each chapter used techniques from the previous chapters to solve more complex query problems as the book progressed.

I began writing T-SQL queries 12 years ago. I had a book that was about four inches thick on my desk that contained just about everything I needed to know about SQL Server at the time, including T-SQL. I remember constantly looking up how to join tables, write aggregate queries, or perform updates until, eventually, I just knew the syntax. As I learned even more techniques, the syntax I knew continued to grow, and the syntax I had to look up constantly changed. Since then, Microsoft has introduced several new versions of SQL Server, expanding the feature set each time. I would probably need four or five books the size of my old reference to cover everything offered with SQL Server today.

Online Resources

Besides having a great reference book in your hands, what other ways can you learn? A wealth of knowledge is available for free on the Web. You can post questions on newsgroups and forums; read articles, blogs, and white papers; and even view videos explaining how to write T-SQL code. Someone else has already posted an answer, blog, or article that covers just about anything you could ever want to know. Here are some of my favorite sites featuring SQL Server information:

• www.sqlservercentral.com
• www.sqlteam.com
• www.microsoft.com/sqlserver/en/us/community.aspx
• www.sql-server-performance.com/
• http://sqlblog.com/
• http://sqlserverpedia.com/
• www.sqlshare.com/
• www.mssqltips.com/
• http://sqlcat.com/

At the time of this writing, social networking sites such as Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter make the news every day. These sites provide yet another way to get answers to questions by discussing the issues with colleagues across the world. For example, if you send a SQL Server question on Twitter and use hashtag #sqlhelp, you’ll get professionals from around the world willing to answer your question.

Because of printing and shipping costs and the impact of online resources, publishers are moving print magazines to online services only. I suspect that over time we will see less and less paper and even more online subscription resources. You’ll also want to take advantage of e-books, which can be quickly downloaded onto your reader and are much less expensive to purchase than physical books.

Conferences

If you get the chance to attend a conference such as Professional Association for SQL Server (PASS), PASS SQLRally, DevTeach/SQLTeach, TechEd, or one of the other conferences featuring SQL Server presentations, be sure to take advantage of the opportunity. The great thing about attending conferences is that you get a chance to talk with the gurus and experts as well as listen to the presentations. You also get to meet other people who face many of the same issues that you do and learn about the solutions they have developed. Conferences can get you out of your day-to-day environment, get you refreshed, and get you excited about the future.

Just as more and more traditionally printed material now appears on the Internet, you can also attend virtual conferences via the Web. SQL Server World User Group hosts two or three virtual conferences each year (www.sswug.org/). The advantage to virtual conferences over in-person conferences is in cost savings and lack of travel. The disadvantage, of course, is not getting to meet the speakers and other attendees face-to-face. Either way, attending conferences is a great way to learn about SQL Server.

User Groups

Many metropolitan areas have user groups dedicated to programming languages or using certain software. These groups often provide pizza, prizes, and educational presentations at meetings held on a scheduled basis. To find a list of user groups that are associated with PASS, go to www.sqlpass.org. User group membership is usually free. A few dedicated volunteers run most user groups, and sponsors, such as recruiting firms or software vendors, often pay for the food and provide prizes. Not only is attending user group meetings a great way to learn T-SQL and other SQL Server topics, but you may also meet your next employer at a user group meeting!

Also keep an eye out for SQLSaturday events. These events are part of PASS but are arranged by local user groups. They occur throughout the year in various locations around the world. A SQLSaturday event is an entire Saturday of SQL presentations and—the best part—it’s free! To see if there is a SQLSaturday scheduled near you, go to www.sqlsaturday.com/ and check it out.

Vendors

Even though they may have an ulterior motive, such as getting you to buy a product, vendors creating software for SQL Server developers and database administrators often provide a wealth of information. Vendors have educational web sites, webinars, newsletters, and online books all for free. Some of the software vendors employ high-profile SQL Server experts who speak at user group meetings and conferences to provide education to the SQL Server community.

Books

Even though there are many online resources available to you, nothing beats a great book that you can carry with you on an airplane or a bus. You now have the choice to buy the physical book, download the book as a computer file, or read the book on a subscription device such as a Kindle or Nook. The great thing about books by Apress authors, regardless of how you access the books, is that they are written by developers and database administrators who have worked at real jobs—just like you. Apress authors can pass along the benefit of their experience as well as their knowledge.

If you need to get started learning a language or need to really focus on a particular area, a well-organized book will save you a lot of time vs. hunting down resources on the Web. When learning a new programming language, follow the examples from cover to cover at first. Then, once you are familiar with the language, save your book as a reference for when you need more information about a particular topic.

Classes

If you live in a metropolitan area, many training centers offer SQL Server courses. These classes are a great way to get you started with new language, especially if you learn better in person than with a book or video. Another benefit is being able to ask the instructor questions, often even after the class is over by e-mail. Like conferences, getting out of the regular work environment helps you focus and learn. I encourage you to attend training classes, especially if your employer is willing to foot the bill.

SQL Server Books Online

Refer to SQL Server Books Online often. I am constantly surprised to learn new ways to use T-SQL features from taking a look at Books Online when I thought I already knew all there was to know about a feature. I often use Books Online as a starting point and then see how someone else explains the same concept in a book or article.

One thing that I don’t like about Books Online is how the syntax is presented. The syntax examples include every possible option, making it, in my opinion, difficult to understand. I usually skip down to the example code to figure it out. I hope you learned a lot by the way this book presented the syntax examples, showing only what you needed to see to learn the particular topic at hand.

Practice, Practice, and More Practice

The only way to really learn T-SQL is by doing it. You can have an entire bookshelf filled with T-SQL books, attend conferences and classes, ask questions, and surf the Web, but you won’t learn T-SQL without practicing it yourself. I am reminded of a recent TV episode of The Big Bang Theory where one of the characters thought he could learn to swim by just reading about swimming on the Web. The more you practice and experiment, the faster you will learn.

This book is full of examples and exercises that you can use to experiment. What will happen if you tweak this query, or how can you change that query so that it runs more efficiently? Keep working at it; keep learning.

Teach Someone Else

I am always amazed at how much I learn when I must explain a concept to another developer or write about a T-SQL topic. To use a feature, you have to understand it, but to teach it, you have to know it at an entirely different level. I have learned so much by writing this book, not only about the process of writing a book, but about writing T-SQL code. I have been surprised that writing a query one way didn’t really give me the performance increase I expected. I have learned about an optional parameter or a different way to use a particular feature. To explain a concept to you, I had to really think about how the query works, not just how to make it work.

I have learned a lot writing this book. Thank you for learning along with me.