About the Code

With the sheer volume of code in this book and the emphasis on exploring SQL Server as a program, it might at first appear that you'd need to be a seasoned coder to really understand the book. That's not my intent. I wanted to take a fresh approach to the discussion of SQL Server's architecture and the way that its various components are constructed and fit together, so this book explores the product from the perspective of the professional developer. I think this is appropriate given that SQL Server is, after all, an application. It was obviously built by developers. There is no greater insight into the way an application works—no higher level of mastery—than to understand the application in the same way the people that built it do. By exploring SQL Server as an application, we attempt to get inside the heads of the people who built it, to understand what they were thinking when they designed it. Of course, there are limits as to how far we can go—we didn't write the app and we don't have source code for it. But there is a great deal we can learn just by approaching SQL Server as we would any other complex Windows application. By using tools such as WinDbg, Perfmon, and others, we can look under the hood, so to speak, and gain a deep understanding of much of the architecture and internals of the product. In my opinion, there is no better way to master SQL Server or any other third-party application.

So, do you need to be a coder to master SQL Server or glean everything this book has to teach? No, but it certainly wouldn't hurt. If you don't consider yourself a coder, my suggestion would be not to fret. Read through the text and examples in this book, retrace my steps where you can, and work at your own pace. The fact that the book is an in-depth study of a particular program doesn't mean that it's only for programmers. It's my hope that many readers who don't consider themselves coders will discover their inner programmer and, in taking their coding skill to the next level, come to understand SQL Server in ways that would otherwise not be possible and as they never have before. And it's my hope that they will then be sufficiently equipped to continue the exploration of SQL Server on their own. Rather than just divulging a mother lode of technical data as is so often the case with even the best technical books, I wanted to teach readers how to investigate complex Windows applications such as SQL Server. The investigatory skills you pick up in this book should be applicable regardless of the product or program you're studying and should allow you to continue your exploration of SQL Server for years to come.