SQL Server Data Tool SSDT or SQL Server 2008 R2

Question

Can anyone kindly tell me which one should I install to develop database applications using C#?

SSDT or SQL Server 2008 R2? Or both are the same?

Answer 1

This two software are two different things, one is a Database Server (SQL Server 2008 R2) the other (SSDT) is a set of tools that expands functionality of Visual Studio to allow the developer to use a lot of feature that are in SSMS directly inside Visual Studio.

So you can install both .

Answer 2

It depends which environment you are more comfortable in, Visual Studio or SSMS.

But, I recommend SSDT. The main reasons are:

• It is free
• You can create your DB application and target multiple SQL Server platforms. And, you get platform-specific validation
• SSDT provides Schema Compare
• Integration of DB code with TFS
• Deployment and management of your code changes is so much more easier
• Better code validation engine including Code Analysis
• Single integration development environment
• Very similar behavior to SSMS