I was wondering if there are any alternatives to Microsoft's SQL Server Management Studio?
Not there's anything wrong with SSMS, but sometimes it just seem too big an application where all I want todo is browse/edit tables and run queries.
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How about Embarcadero Rapid SQL Really good but kind of expensive.
Oracle has a free program called SQL Developer which will work with Microsoft SQL Server as well as Oracle & MySQL. When accessing SQL Server, however, Oracle SQL Developer is only intended to enable an easy migration to Oracle, so your SQL Server database is essentially read-only.
There is an express version on SSMS that has considerably fewer features but still has the basics.
You can still install and use Query Analyzer from previous SQL Server versions.
I have been using Atlantis SQL Enywhere, a free software, for almost 6 months and has been working really well. Works with SQL 2005 and SQL 2008 versions. I am really impressed with its features and keyboard shortcuts are similar to VS, so makes the transition really smooth to a new editor.
Some of the features that are worth mentioning:
All these features have saved me lot of time.
If you are already spending time in Visual Studio, then you can always use the Server Explorer to connect to any .Net compliant database server.
Provided you're using Professional or greater, you can create and edit tables and databases, run queries, etc.
Seems that no one mentioned Query Express (http://www.albahari.com/queryexpress.aspx) and a fork Query ExPlus (also link at the bottom of http://www.albahari.com/queryexpress.aspx)
BTW. First URL is the home page of Joseph Albahari who is the author of LINQPad (check out this killer tool)
powershell + sqlcmd :)
TOAD for MS SQL looks pretty good. I've never used it personally but I have used Quest's other products and they're solid.
vim + dbext :)
Source: Stackoverflow.com