It is not true that SQL Server 2000 is better than Oracle 9i or vice versa. Both products can be used to build stable and efficient system and the stability and effectiveness of your applications and databases depend rather from the experience of the database developers and database administrator than from the database’s provider. But SQL Server 2000 has some advantages in comparison with Oracle 9i and vice versa.

The SQL Server 2000 advantages:

* SQL Server 2000 is cheaper to buy than Oracle 9i Database.
* SQL Server 2000 holds the top TPC-C performance and price/performance results.
* SQL Server 2000 is generally accepted as easier to install, use and manage.

The Oracle 9i Database advantages:

* Oracle 9i Database supports all known platforms, not only the Windows-based platforms.
* PL/SQL is more powerful language than T-SQL.
* More fine-tuning to the configuration can be done via start-up parameters.

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SQL is a language used to communicate with relational databases. It defines operations for inserting, deleting, retrieving and updating information organized in tables. It is also used for managing databases. Although there are standards for SQL, such as ANSI SQL92 and SQL99, most databases use their own dialect and/or extentions. Microsoft’s flavor of SQL used in SQL Server 7 and SQL Server 2000 is called T-SQL.

The following aggregate functions are available:

Aggregate Function Description
AVG Average of values in a column.
COUNT Counts how many rows.
MAX Maximum value in a column.
MIN Minimum value in a column.
STDEV Sample standard deviation of the values in a column.
STDEVP Standard deviation of the values in a column.
SUM Adds the values in a column.
VAR Sample variance of the values in a column.
VARP Variance of the values in a column.