>Rick,
>
> I am just finishing the book MSDE Developer's Guide ( ISBN 0764546988 ) It has been a good introduction to MSDE. It sounds from your other post like you are reading some books about SQL. Can you recommend any good ones?
>
>Marty

Marty,

What I've been reading recently are books geared towards exam 70-029 (Designing and Implementing Databases with Microsoft SQL Server 7.0), which will be the last leg in my MCSD. So these are kind of specific to that exam, but IMO some of them would be useful for any developer who wants to get up to speed on SQL Server 7.0. Specifically, I've found the Exam Prep book (Database Design on SQL Server 7, ISBN 1576105199) and the New Riders book (SQL Server 7 Database Design, ISBN 0735700044) to be worth spending some time with.

Of course, there's a lot of material in the books for the 70-028 exam (SQL Server Administration) that one should know for a more complete understanding of SQL Server. I haven't tackled that one yet, so I can't make any recommendations.

At the Milwaukee conference last November, Jim Duffy recommended a particular book on writing stored procedures for SQL Server 7.0. Unfortunately the reference didn't make it into the conference notes so I can't tell you what exactly it was. If I find out I'll try to remember to let you know, too.

For books on SQL in general, I'd recommend anything by Joe Celko. In particular, SQL For Smarties (ISBN 1558605762) tells you a lot about how SQL really works, and there's a new one that Joe co-authored called SQL Queries for Mere Mortals (ISBN 0201433362), which I have heard good things about but which I haven't seen in person yet.

Happy reading!

HTH,
Rick