What is this book about? SQL Server 2000 is the latest and most powerful version of Microsoft's data warehousing and relational database management system. This new release is tightly integrated with Windows 2000 and offers more support for XML, as well as improved Analysis Services for OLAP and data mining. Professional SQL Server 2000 provides a comprehensive guide to programming with SQL Server 2000, from a complete tutorial on Transact-SQL to an in-depth discussion of new features, such as indexed views, user-defined functions, and the wealth of new SQL Server features to support XML. Whether you're coming to SQL Server 2000 from another relational database management system, upgrading your existing system, or perhaps wanting to add programming skills to your DBA knowledge, you'll find what you need in this book to get to grips with SQL Server 2000 development. What does this book cover? Here are just a few of the things covered in this book: A complete introduction to Transact-SQL Database design issues Creating and using views, stored procedures, and user- defined functions Responding to events with triggers Making your SQL Server secure Retrieving your data as XML An introduction to Analysis Services Moving data using Data Transformation Services and the bulk copy program Maintaining the integrity of distributed data with replication Who is this book for? This book is aimed at the SQL Server developer who wants to make the most out of the new features of SQL Server 2000. No knowledge of SQL Server is assumed, although in order to follow this book, you do need to have an understanding of programming basics such as variables, data types, and procedural programming. Database administration is also covered but only as it affects the SQL Server developer.