Spotlight customer reviews:
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Customer Rating: 
Summary: As Advertised
Comment: This is exactly what you need to study for this test. As it is published by Microsoft, it give you the ability to "think" like Microsoft which is what is needed when taking the test for the MCTS certification in SQL. The test on the CD gives you a chance to find out how much you know and also prepares you for the demanding cert exam.
Customer Rating: 
Summary: Good book, but ditch the practice exam
Comment: This thick, hefty book is very thorough and covers MOST of the bases you'll need for the 70-431 exam. There are still some useful details from the SQL Books Online (SQL Server's "help" files) that you should know, but this book gives a good starting point. Reading through each chapter thoroughly and doing every practice lesson will put you well on the road for success at the exam.
Where this book fails completely is the practice test that comes on CD with the book. The questions were very poorly written (sometimes missing vital information required to even discern what area of SQL server the question is supposed to be addressing) and were very dissimilar to the questions on the actual exam.
If you're looking for useful practice for the exam, use another book (like ExamCram) or buy a worthwhile practice test. Or, just take the test itself as practice - it's almost the same price as some of the practice exams on the web. But don't rely on the practice exam in this book - it's a terrible gauge of what the real deal is like.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Extra Content
Comment: I passed the 70-431 Exam using this book and a few others. I really like Murach's stuff better though.
Philip
www.SQLDataBasics.com
Customer Rating:
Summary: not a good book to use for a job
Comment: I had to use this book for a class. It has many mistakes and the quizzes at the end of the chapters ask questions that weren't even covered. Everyone in my class including the instructor agreed that this was not a good book. It either barely discusses or doesn't even cover things that the quizzes ask you about. I am going to find another book to study from before I even think about taking the test. The labs were terrible also, some of them couldn't even be completed as set up by the book. I wouldn't even waste my money on this.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Useful for experienced SQL Server users
Comment: I'm about 1/3 of the way through this book. As a moderately experienced SQL Server developer, I find the book useful as an exam prep beause it briefly reviews and previews the information, although it relies on the reader already being somewhat familiar with the subject.
For example, the text explanations and code snippets are good, but there are very few screenshots or other figures.
Don't get this book if you don't already have some experience with SQL Server.
Do get this book as a review or summary of what you'll presumably need to know for the exam.
Conrad
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