Archive for November, 2013


Book review – Tribal SQL

Filed under: Community, SQL Server, Thoughts — 1 Comment
24/11/2013

Having seen the request by redgate to review the Tribal SQL book, I leapt at the chance. I love the idea of these books and having read the MVP Deep Dives books (Book 1 and Book 2) previously I wanted to see what this one offered.

As with the MVP Deep Dives books, Tribal SQL’s authors have donated their royalties to charity, and in this case they go to Computers For Africa. There are also alot of well known names in this book with Dave Ballantyne,  Mark Rasmussen, Bob Pusateri, Stephanie Locke and Matt Velic, among them.

Tribal SQL is a good size book, weighing in at 454 pages, with 15 chapters covering various topics relevant to DBA’s. Each of the chapters has been written by a previously  unpublished author, and all are based on their experiences. There are chapters covering most topics from Internals Data Compression, Performance tuning, Auditing and SQL Injection, through to less technical areas such as Reporting and Database Mail. Additionally, there are sections on personal skills which include Communication Skills, Project Management and an Introduction to Agile Database Development.

While some of the sections don’t go into as much detail as you’d hope, this isn’t the point of this book (from my understanding). It covers each of the areas well, leaves you interested for more, and most of the chapters include links to various sources for further reading.

I enjoyed reading this book, and would highly recommend it for others. Chapters that I got the most out of were the Internals (Mark Rasmussen), Windowing Functions (Dave Ballantyne, and particularly since I was doing the SQL 2012 Querying exam), and the SQL Injection (Kevin Feasel).

My only criticism suggestion is that I’d like to see an eBook/Kindle version of it so I can have it in the eBook library I have on my Tablet, on the grounds that I can use it as a reference book.

You can read more about this book at the books website – TribalSQL.com

Comment

Get out of that chair!!

Filed under: Thoughts, Uncategorized — 2 Comments
10/11/2013

It’s been an interesting few months for me, things are different, and yet the same.

At the start of the year, I didn’t think I’d run a 10 mile road race (done that), and I’d expected to have completed the SQL 2008 MCM by now (not done that, and not going to).

This week, I’m taking the first of my SQL 2012 Exams, which I’m looking forward to, and because of this (along with no longer needing to focus on 2008), I’ve been able to look deeper at the 2012 / 2014 versions of SQL Server. I’m liking the new features.

However, this post isn’t about SQL (well, maybe indirectly). It’s about why I’m doing it.

The only person who can control what you can learn, is you. However you do it, you need to grow, and gain skills, move yourself to the next level.

Professionally, I do this by attending conferences and user groups where possible (I’m attending the SQL Relay event in Reading (UK) on 11th November), and also have a Pluralsight Subscription. This is a phenomenal resource, and has given me a huge list of training courses to work my way through.

Personally, I also use a lot of the material from Eric Thomas (motivational speaker) to get my head in the right place. Also, YouTube has a great wealth of motivational videos that help, and I love the one below. Pushing myself to get to a better state physically, so be able to go from not being able to run half a mile, to running 10, has reduced my stress levels, and I feel healthier for it. Obviously, this is a good thing since, in our industry, we spend most of the time sitting and this is REALLY unhealthy (Read this: Sitting is the new Smoking).

Whatever it takes, it’s all about growing yourself, stagnation is not an option.

Tags: , ,
Comment