I have a few years experience developing with oracle and have now moved to a place where they use SQL server (2005). Where would be a good place to learn things like SQL Server query optimisation, basic dba stuff and sql server gotchas for someone with my background.
Thanks!
This book is really useful becaseu it has both Oracle and T_sql syntax SQL in a Nutshell by Kevin and Daniel Kline published by O'Reilly
Cursors can be an issue for someone coming from an Oracle background because it is my understanding that they are used frequently in Oracle. SQL Server doesn't like them and they are big performance killers.
There are several books on SQL Server performance tuning. A quick loo at AMazon should get you a bunch o fthem
Red-gate provides good tools for comparing databases and also has a lot of good free content that you might want to check out. http://www.red-gate.com/
Some good content on SQL Server here, especially in the Wiki area. I know many of the authors and some of them work in very large SQL Server environments and are very smart people. http://lessthandot.com/
I concur with hlgem.
I would add that you are in for a big shock. The architecture of SQL Server is dramatically different from Oracle. Are you coming at this from a DBA perspective or a developer?
Before you jump into the optimizer, first learn about the lock manager and the escalation of locks in SQL. It is radically different than Oracle and most of the assumptions you are likely to harbor from your Oracle days will produce frustrations for you. It is best you learn from the biginning how the lock manager works and thus limits what you can do. At least then you will know how to craft a solution in SQL instead of making an attempt based on your Oracle experience that just will have to be modified later.
Having said that, distill what is true of all DB systems and rely on that in working in SQL. All the first principles of DB technology still apply with SQL and will help you in developing, tuning and troubleshooting.
good luck.