Michael Coles is a SQL Server Microsoft Most Valuable Professional. He has written several books and articles on SQL Server. He is a regular columnist in http://www.sqlservercentral.com/ and regularly blogs at SQLblog. Michael is the author of several books, which are Pro T-SQL 2005 Programmer's Guide, Pro SQL Server 2008 XML, Pro SQL Server 2008 Full-Text Search and he contributed to Accelerated SQL Server 2008 .
Lets check out more about his books and his views on SQL Server 2008.
VJ: Please tell us about the motivation behind writing a book on XML?
Michael Coles: Initially I needed a reference book for SQL Server 2005’s new XML functionality (when it was first introduced), but everything I found seemed to be about the backwards-compatible SQL Server 2000 functionality that was carried forward. I think the lack of a reference that really covered the new features like the XML data type methods and XML Schema collections really made me decide to write Pro SQL Server 2008 XML.
VJ: There are so many features in SQL Server 2008, what do you think are the most useful for developers?
Michael Coles: (I assume this is about new features specifically). I’ve gotten a lot of good use out of a lot of the new features. It’s really hard to say what’s the “most useful” – it really depends on what you need. I’ve found the encryption functionality in SQL Server 2008 a particularly compelling feature, but it hasn’t gotten a lot of fanfare yet. The new functionality is integrated full-text search makes it a lot more useful as well. I also like the spatial data types, but it’s such specific functionality that I don’t know how many developers will get the opportunity to take advantage of it directly, without some sort of off-the-shelf geospatial/mapping software sitting there to use it.
VJ: Please tell us the advantages of storing data in XML in comparison with relational database?
Michael Coles: Now that’s a trick question :) There’s not really an “advantage” to storing XML versus relational form. What happens is people have requirements to store XML data they may receive from other sources, they may have a requirement to use XML columnsets for a more dynamic database, or they may just need to parse and process XML data.
There are a lot of DBAs who flatly reject XML, and in many cases they’re right. But XML is the lingua franca of the internet and at some point developers and DBAs will have to deal with it. To me some of SQL Server’s most compelling XML features are XQuery support, the FOR XML clause, and the shredding (converting XML to relational format) support of the XML data type. In other words a lot of SQL Server’s best XML features deal with processing XML on the server.
VJ: You are Microsoft Most Valuable Professional, what do you think about this program.
Michael Coles: It’s a very humbling experience. You get to meet some of the smartest SQL people on the planet – folks like Louis Davidson, Adam Machanic, Hugo Kornelis, Erland Sommarskog, Itzik Ben-Gan (and a bunch of others). To actually meet these people you’ve looked up to for so long is incredible. To have one or two say “I enjoyed your article” or “I like your code sample” is like icing on the cake.
VJ: Please tell us about your favorite authors?
Michael Coles: Oh wow – I like so many authors. For technical writing, I really like Adam Machanic and Itzik Ben-Gan’s books, Erland Sommarskog’s incredible white papers, and Pinal Dave’s blog (sqlauthority.com). For nontechnical writing I enjoy Simon Singh and Douglas Adams.
VJ: Please tell us about the SQL Server books that are part of your bookshelf?
Michael Coles: Let’s see – as examples I have the Knight and Veerman books (Pro and Expert SQL Server 2005 Integration Services books), the Dewson Pro SQL Server 2005 Assemblies book, the entire Inside SQL Server 2005 series from Delaney and her cowriters. I usually buy SQL books for reference when I’m doing very specific tasks. When I buy a SQL book I tend to spend a lot of time looking through book indexes for keywords related to a specific problem I’m experiencing. Most of the books on my technical bookshelf are non-SQL books though, like Schneier’s Applied Cryptography and Knuth’s The Art of Computer Programming.
VJ: Please tell us about the enhancements or new features you want to see on XML in next version of SQL Server.
Michael Coles: I’d personally like to see more comprehensive support for the XQuery standard and better overall XML performance. I think over time both of these will be addressed. Keeping in mind the new generation of XML support is only 4 years old, I think it’ll get even better as the features mature and new methods of optimizing XML manipulation and queries. One of the best things I think developers can do is provide Microsoft with plenty of feedback (through the MS Connect website, via user groups, on blogs, etc.) about which XML features they’re using, which features they find most useful, and what they’d like to see improved. This kind of feedback can help get new features and improvements on the SQL Server team’s radar.
VJ: Please share your valuable message for the database Developers
Michael Coles: I think the most important thing is to share your knowledge and experiences with other developers. A lot of the tips and tricks that some developers take for granted aren’t necessarily widely known, and it helps everyone when we contribute to the community together.
VJ: Please tell us about your upcoming books
Michael Coles: Right now I’m finishing up Expert SQL Server 2008 Encryption with James Luetkehoelter. This is going to be the first book that specifically focuses on encryption technology in SQL Server and how you can leverage it to protect your corporate data.
I’m also considering writing a freely downloadable e-book—I still have to work out the details and find the time. I’ll keep you posted on that one.
I would like to thank Michael Coles for sharing his views with us....
Lets check out more about his books and his views on SQL Server 2008.
VJ: Please tell us about the motivation behind writing a book on XML?
Michael Coles: Initially I needed a reference book for SQL Server 2005’s new XML functionality (when it was first introduced), but everything I found seemed to be about the backwards-compatible SQL Server 2000 functionality that was carried forward. I think the lack of a reference that really covered the new features like the XML data type methods and XML Schema collections really made me decide to write Pro SQL Server 2008 XML.
VJ: There are so many features in SQL Server 2008, what do you think are the most useful for developers?
Michael Coles: (I assume this is about new features specifically). I’ve gotten a lot of good use out of a lot of the new features. It’s really hard to say what’s the “most useful” – it really depends on what you need. I’ve found the encryption functionality in SQL Server 2008 a particularly compelling feature, but it hasn’t gotten a lot of fanfare yet. The new functionality is integrated full-text search makes it a lot more useful as well. I also like the spatial data types, but it’s such specific functionality that I don’t know how many developers will get the opportunity to take advantage of it directly, without some sort of off-the-shelf geospatial/mapping software sitting there to use it.
VJ: Please tell us the advantages of storing data in XML in comparison with relational database?
Michael Coles: Now that’s a trick question :) There’s not really an “advantage” to storing XML versus relational form. What happens is people have requirements to store XML data they may receive from other sources, they may have a requirement to use XML columnsets for a more dynamic database, or they may just need to parse and process XML data.
There are a lot of DBAs who flatly reject XML, and in many cases they’re right. But XML is the lingua franca of the internet and at some point developers and DBAs will have to deal with it. To me some of SQL Server’s most compelling XML features are XQuery support, the FOR XML clause, and the shredding (converting XML to relational format) support of the XML data type. In other words a lot of SQL Server’s best XML features deal with processing XML on the server.
VJ: You are Microsoft Most Valuable Professional, what do you think about this program.
Michael Coles: It’s a very humbling experience. You get to meet some of the smartest SQL people on the planet – folks like Louis Davidson, Adam Machanic, Hugo Kornelis, Erland Sommarskog, Itzik Ben-Gan (and a bunch of others). To actually meet these people you’ve looked up to for so long is incredible. To have one or two say “I enjoyed your article” or “I like your code sample” is like icing on the cake.
VJ: Please tell us about your favorite authors?
Michael Coles: Oh wow – I like so many authors. For technical writing, I really like Adam Machanic and Itzik Ben-Gan’s books, Erland Sommarskog’s incredible white papers, and Pinal Dave’s blog (sqlauthority.com). For nontechnical writing I enjoy Simon Singh and Douglas Adams.
VJ: Please tell us about the SQL Server books that are part of your bookshelf?
Michael Coles: Let’s see – as examples I have the Knight and Veerman books (Pro and Expert SQL Server 2005 Integration Services books), the Dewson Pro SQL Server 2005 Assemblies book, the entire Inside SQL Server 2005 series from Delaney and her cowriters. I usually buy SQL books for reference when I’m doing very specific tasks. When I buy a SQL book I tend to spend a lot of time looking through book indexes for keywords related to a specific problem I’m experiencing. Most of the books on my technical bookshelf are non-SQL books though, like Schneier’s Applied Cryptography and Knuth’s The Art of Computer Programming.
VJ: Please tell us about the enhancements or new features you want to see on XML in next version of SQL Server.
Michael Coles: I’d personally like to see more comprehensive support for the XQuery standard and better overall XML performance. I think over time both of these will be addressed. Keeping in mind the new generation of XML support is only 4 years old, I think it’ll get even better as the features mature and new methods of optimizing XML manipulation and queries. One of the best things I think developers can do is provide Microsoft with plenty of feedback (through the MS Connect website, via user groups, on blogs, etc.) about which XML features they’re using, which features they find most useful, and what they’d like to see improved. This kind of feedback can help get new features and improvements on the SQL Server team’s radar.
VJ: Please share your valuable message for the database Developers
Michael Coles: I think the most important thing is to share your knowledge and experiences with other developers. A lot of the tips and tricks that some developers take for granted aren’t necessarily widely known, and it helps everyone when we contribute to the community together.
VJ: Please tell us about your upcoming books
Michael Coles: Right now I’m finishing up Expert SQL Server 2008 Encryption with James Luetkehoelter. This is going to be the first book that specifically focuses on encryption technology in SQL Server and how you can leverage it to protect your corporate data.
I’m also considering writing a freely downloadable e-book—I still have to work out the details and find the time. I’ll keep you posted on that one.
I would like to thank Michael Coles for sharing his views with us....
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