Microsoft SQL Server 2005 Express

Microsoft SQL Server 2005 Express Video Lessons: A Review

Targeted toward beginners interested in using Structured Query Language (or SQL) to create databases for their web sites, this set of instructional videos entitled Microsoft SQL Server 2005 Express Video Lessons offers pertinent information about the programming language designed to help any beginner grasp the concept of SQL. By providing not only an explanation of the database language, why one might want to use it, and differences between SQL and other programs that the student may be familiar with, but also step-by-step instructions for using SQL in a variety of ways, the tutorials prod students to become masters at SQL programming without experiencing the frustration associated with learning any new task. An examination of four of the lessons -- understanding security and networking connectivity, connecting your web application to SQL Server 2005 Express Edition, getting started with reporting services, and embedding, packaging, and deploying SQL Server Express Reporting Services -- will allow readers to understand the content and quality of this tutorial.

Under the general heading of security, both lessons seven and eight teach new SQL users the importance of Internet security when using programming language on the web. Lesson seven, understanding security and network connectivity, discusses the importance of security when considering how the database will be connected to the individual application and how users will connect to the database. The lesson lists two basic connection scenarios -- allowing many users to interact with the same copy of the database and allowing many users to work with their own version or copy of the database. While the first scenario allows different users to work together, the second is much easier to secure, as any changes that the users make are applied only to their individual document. By providing this information, the lesson not only allows students to determine which user scenario they should use, but also the lesson demonstrates how to create the scenarios in SQL and how each scenario works.

A variation on a theme, lesson eight -- connecting your web application to SQL Server 2005 Express Edition -- allows beginners to actually connect their web application to an SQL database. In this video, students work along with the narrator as he uses SQL to create an application that allows web users to sign up for a newsletter. From creating a new file, to switching between programming languages, to storing graphics' files, and saving and storing the files, this lesson provides students with a step-by-step guide toward securely and easily creating a newsletter page using SQL.

Like the eighth lesson, lessons ten and eleven teach students the ins and outs of using a feature of SQL -- the reporting services feature. In these lessons, the narrator explains how to use reporting services, including the Business Intelligence Development Studio, to create professional-looking reports that express the data entered into the SQL database. These reports can be used as an excellent visual representation of the progress of one's project. For example, if a student were using SQL to allow web users to sign up for a news letter, as referenced in the very first informational video, a report designed using wizards through the Business Intelligence Development Studio would be an excellent and professional way to exhibit the popularity of the web site. By giving the student step-by-step information on how to install and use the reporting services, the video allows students to understand the sheer amount of information the reporting services can provide. The information contained in the video, including formatting options and user security, allows students to determine what kind of reports they want to generate to display their data.