A Developer's Guide to SQL Server 2005:

This book was recomended by my instructor and I see myself keeping this as a ready reference once I get into the work force.

Bob's book is written for the passionate Microsoft developer. DBA's and IT Pro's will find this book useful to have on the shelf, as there are number of features that touch the life of the Admin. Additionally, AW press has released another book, SQL Server 2005 Distilled, if you are looking for something less deep, I would try that book too. HTH. Dusty...

This is a very good book for Database Developers. It covers most topics thoroughly. Some topics like SQLCLR and XQuery are covered too much in detail for my taste, but who knows one day I might need it! (there is a 17 page WSDL in chapter 12 .. I don't know who decided to put this in :-) Initially the minutiae kind of put me off, but over time I have started to like this book.

This is THE book on SQL Server 2005 development. I first got to know the authors through the beta of this book, "A First Look at SQL Server for Developers" - which quickly became the De facto standard. This is the RTM version of that book. If you purchased all the books on this topic, some would be on your bookshelf, and one would be on your desk. This is the one which would be on your desk. The authors are experts, and the book is very well written. It is simply the best book on the topic that exists. Much like Michael Kay's XSLT book.

If you want the details of SQL Server 2005 application development done right, this is the book. Bob covers .NET integration, security and a ton of other new features. Bob's first edition of this book came out 2 years ago. That shows you the guy is ahead of the game. He now partners with Kimberly Tripp who is one of the top SQL Server performance people. Check out Bob's recent interview on dotnetrocks.com and you will know the guy knows SQL Server 2005. Chris Dickey [...]