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If I am a Java certified programer, by seeing that certificate people can say I have good knowledge on Java in a snap. Is there any similar certification to know if a person can write good SQL queries? I am not talking about database administration.

I am looking at MS SQL Server specifically.

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In my experience, a Java certification doesn't say you can write good programs, so why should SQL certification be any different? – Paul Tomblin Jan 17 '12 at 23:53
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God I knew this kind of answers would show up :) @Paul Tomblin We both could be right or wrong, at any time. But the whole industry believes in certification. And I wont press that certification is best way to gauge, but it is quick way and getting certified does mean the exam taker had spent quite some time knowing different aspects of the technology. And man, certificates help our resume stand out from the bunch without even working on a ground breaking technology/product. – Alexander Jan 18 '12 at 3:34

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Microsoft has a "database developer" track for SQL Server 2008 which includes exams 70-433 and 70-451.

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@Tangurena has posted the simple answer to your question, but certifications are a really poor way of gauging ability - if you want to know if someone can write SQL, you should get them to write some SQL. If it's an interview, ask them to write a query that joins two tables and extracts a subset of the results. I use a simple sports league example, and ask them to add the ranking as a calculated column. If they get through that, asking them to do Fizz-Buzz in SQL sorts the wannabes from the can-do's.

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I totally agree. But what if I am the interviewee? :) – Alexander Jan 18 '12 at 3:37
Do you already have SQL skills? If not, acquire them (in a job, not on some certification course); if you do, add them to your CV, polish them, and learn how to implement Fizz-Buzz in it. :-) And feel free to get MS-Certified using the information provided by @Tangurena. – gkrogers Jan 18 '12 at 4:29
Yeah. I do have Sql skills but thats not the major part of my work (for now) but as my career is progressing, I feel I have to have good grip on SQL. So this question was second part to my knowledge improvement program. Thanks for your valuable suggestion, I will keep it in mind. – Alexander Jan 18 '12 at 4:50
@ReddySR - Sounds like you want to earn certifications that Tangurena mention. They in theory prove you have a deeper understanding of MS SQL, at least to the level of what Microsoft would consider [insert trivial value here]. In other words if you learn the Microsoft way, you likely will have a better understanding then you do now. – Ramhound Jan 18 '12 at 17:09
Unless I'm misunderstanding what you mean, Fizz-Buzz doesn't seem like a very useful test beyond demonstrating grasp of basic syntax. It's not a very algorithmically complex task, and it doesn't expose any understanding/ignorance about a particular RDBMS' internals. A test that requires constructing advanced queries or employing SQL's more powerful features (e.g. subqueries, views, cursors, indexes, temporary tables, triggers, etc.) would be more ideal. – Lèse majesté Mar 1 '12 at 1:51
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