Reviews for MCTS Training Kit: Implementing & Maintaining SQL Server 2005 Book/CD Package: Microsoft SQL Server 2005 Implementation and Maintenance (Pro-Certification)

1. Solid exam resource

   Rated 4 out of 5 stars, October 12th, 2009

   Had a couple of annoyances with this book in that the practice exams didn't work and there was the odd error here and there, but otherwise it was a pretty solid purchase. It covered pretty much everything in the exam and I felt it prepared me well. The examples and real world comments are mostly relevant and add to the text. A little more detail in a few sections would have been nice though. Four stars because it did it's job by getting me through the exam without making me want to throw the book out the window.

2. Big

   Rated 3 out of 5 stars, September 12th, 2009

   Is definetely one of the most readable book, but has all the information you need (some you dont!lol) but is fine, even being a bit big you can take it wherever you go (bus, tube, etc).

3. Great beginning

   Rated 4 out of 5 stars, July 12th, 2009

   This book was a team effort from the Solid Quality Learning team. The authors include: Daren Bieniek, Randy Dyess, Mike Hotek, Javier Loria, Adam Machanic, Antonia Soto and Adolfo Wiernik. In my experience, sometimes group projects like that fail because of too many hands in the pot. Not in this case. This book is excellently written. The Self-Paced Training Kits (SPTK), are designed for just that - for a person to be able to buy it, and work through the material, either to prepare for the certification exam, or because they want to deepen their knowledge of a product, to either be more proficient in their job or to advance their career. This book will help reach all of those objectives and more. At nearly a thousand pages it is chock full of information to absorb; fortunately it is structured in such a way as to make that possible.
   
   Each chapter begins with a brief introduction of the concepts to be covered. Each concept has its own section. Then there is a great lesson Summary to review and highlight the objectives of the chapters and what you should now know. Then there is a written review, both theoretical questions and practical case studies. The software on the student CD, has self tests, that can be used for chapter review of certification prep. They can be used both in a learning mode or exam mode.
   
   This book was used in the Microsoft academy that I attended. It is a great resource that I am sure to reference for years to come.
   

4. Not so easy to follow

   Rated 3 out of 5 stars, September 12th, 2008

   I found this book is quite hard to follow. This is my very first SQL server book, and I was lost just in the first couple of the lessons. The author probably expected the readers to have a good knowledge about the system already, so there are not enough screen shots to guide you.

5. Plain English (not)

   Rated 1 out of 5 stars, August 12st, 2008

   This book is very dry and hard to read, some of the text is pure gobbledygook. It also assumes you have knowledge of some of the subjects it teaches. This is supposed to be a training course!
   
   Is summary I wish I had spent my money on something else.