yesterday i went for an interview to be a sql / .net developer. my experience with sql is limited to basic pl/sql with oracle. they drilled me "do you know ssrs, do you know tsql, etc" well i kept saying no because i havent worked with them.
question: what do i have to learn in order to be able to work with microsoft sql? is it really that much different than oracle?
SQL is pretty much SQL. There are some engine-specific differences but for most apps they're not significant. The management tools are obviously different. The OOB tools are vastly different.
SSRS is a reporting package (think Crystal reports on double steroids and you'd be close) not a DB engine. That should be listed as a separate job requirement.
I'd say get an MSDN license OR the free trial for SQL Server and install them all and try them out. Bookstore is a fairly generic app that you can extend forever and tryout new things.
Just keep in mind that someone hiring you is still going to want actual app experience, not your trials. If you can't get it at work, volunteer at an organization.
Grab a copy of SQL Server Express (see here) and start playing with it. There are sample databases that you can download to get you started.
Hey,
SQL is the same, as it's a standard. T-SQL is an add on that has some flavors that are helpful to know. The way you setup procedures, functions, etc. is also different than PL-SQL, so that would be good to read up on. Outside the SQL Server engine and the various built-in tools, there are a lot of other MS products:
SSRS - SQL Server Reporting Services features a reporting engine, which are developed in Visual Studio. SSIS - SQL Server Integration Services is a data import/export, etc. process, it's very handy to use for data import/export and other batch processing SSAS - Analysis Services for OLAP
And so on. I don' tknow that SSAS helps you in this regard, but SSRS is pretty big so as a developer, reporting is a key feature and that would be handy to know something about. SSIS is good to know a little bit about, but might not be that handy, depending on what the org's needs are.
HTH.
A good place to start is reading the MSDN SQL Server resource page. You'll find good information there about the whole MS SQL Ecosystem.
Then get a trial license, a virtual machine and start playing around.
It's kinda limited to their knowledge, as if you know basic ANSI sql then you can get almost all the basics running on SQL Server as they have a common base. As for SSRS, that is specific and will require reading and playing with it to learn. The SQL2008 Express with Advanced services should help you out.
With .net developer interviews I've been to they expect you to know the basics at minimum and be able to do joins and stuff in sql. Learning how to do temp tables and stored procedures as well as updates/selects/deletes and stuff should get you a bit further.
Potentially if they want that kinda experience either they are aiming the roll too low, or you've managed to slip through the net for a higher level role (which is sometimes a good thing) :-)