If you work with SQL Server on a regular basis, either writing custom queries, designing databases, or optimizing queries, this is a must see video as it covers a number of the enhancements to SQL Server 2008 including:
– SQL Management Studio improvements including IntelliSense
– New Data Types for just dates or times (no more storing time when you only need the date)
– New Hierarchical data support .IsDescendent(), that can automatically pull a hierarchical view of data (no more custom recursive queries)
– New Grouping Sets statement which enables you to automatically group dimensions in a query for easy aggregation and reporting
– New Merge statement which provides automatic insert/update semantics for keeping multiple data sources in sync
– New FileStream attribute that enables you to include files that are stored in the server file system, but can be managed by SQL Server
– New data types and support for Geodata and geometry
– New support for optimizing “empty” or row/column tables using the sparse keyword