SQL Server 2008 Query Performance Tuning Distilled
If your job involves writing stored procedures, queries, views, triggers, functions, etc., then these are the SQL Server books we’d recommend for you.
Best Performance Tuning Book:
SQL Server Query Performance Tuning Distilled
Brent says, “My gauge of an amazing book is simple: if I’ve got a question, and I reach for the book BEFORE I search the web, then it’s an amazing book. Not only do I reach for this book often, it’s the only book I keep near my desk.”
This is a fantastic book for people who:
- Spend ten hours or more a week asking themselves, “How can I make this application run faster?”
- Have the ability to change the database schema or queries, but don’t know how to read execution plans
- Know T-SQL well enough to get the data results they want (but not necessarily the fastest way to get those results)
You can read Brent’s full review or buy the book at Amazon. Whether you’re using SQL Server 2005 or 2008, this is a great book.
Best Beginning SQL Server Book:
SQL Server 2008 T-SQL Fundamentals
This book is by Itzik Ben-Gan, a legendary genius of T-SQL development. He’s a rocket scientist, but this is still a good book for beginners because it covers the things you need to know to get a good start.
Best Advanced T-SQL Book:
Inside SQL 2008 T-SQL Querying
This book is also authored by Itzik, but it’s not for beginners. Read this one after you’ve been writing T-SQL for at least a year and you want to feel really challenged.
