sqlproj readme updates (#26107)

extensions/sql-database-projects/README.md

@@ -1,39 +1,57 @@
-# SQL Database Projects for Azure Data Studio and VS Code
+# SQL Database Projects extension
+
+Database source control where objects are stored as code, integrating with build-time validation and dynamically calculated deployments for database DevOps. Cross-platform and compatible with Visual Studio SQL Server Data Tools (SSDT) for SQL Server, Azure SQL, and Fabric SQL.
 
 ## Overview
 
-SQL Database Projects for Azure Data Studio and VS Code provides a way to design, edit, and publish schemas for SQL databases from a source controlled project.  For a complete development workflow, build and deploy your database projects in CI/CD pipelines, such as [GitHub Actions](https://github.com/azure/sql-action) or Azure DevOps.
+SQL Database Projects for Azure Data Studio and VS Code provides a way to design, edit, and publish objects to SQL databases from a source controlled project. For a complete development workflow, build and deploy your database projects in CI/CD pipelines, such as [GitHub Actions](https://github.com/azure/sql-action) or Azure DevOps.
 
-Learn more about the SQL Database Projects extension in the documentation: https://aka.ms/azuredatastudio-sqlprojects
+![SQL project lifecycle](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/microsoft/azuredatastudio/main/extensions/sql-database-projects/images/sqlproj-lifecycle.png)
 
-## Features
+📕 Learn more about SQL Database Projects in the documentation: https://aka.ms/sqlprojects
 
-- Develop database objects using T-SQL
-- Store the database schema in source control
-- Validate object relationships with project build
-- Publish the database objects to a SQL Server or Azure SQL instance
-- Publish the database objects to a local development container
-- Update the database project from a database
+## Requirements
 
-### Preview Features
+The extension will prompt to install the [.NET SDK](https://aka.ms/sqlprojects-dotnet) if it is not found, as it is required to build SQL projects. You can also install the .NET SDK manually from [here](https://aka.ms/sqlprojects-dotnet) for Windows, macOS, and Linux.
 
-- Microsoft.Build.Sql SDK-style projects
-- Generate SQL projects from OpenAPI/Swagger specs
+## Quick start
+
+1. Create a new database project by going to the Database Projects view or by searching for Database Projects: New in the command palette.
+2. Add `.sql` files to the project to define database objects. For example, creating a file `Product.sql` in the SQL project folder to add a table named `Product`:
+  ```sql
+  CREATE TABLE [dbo].[Product](
+      [ProductID] [int] IDENTITY(1,1) NOT NULL PRIMARY KEY,
+      [ProductName] [nvarchar](200) NOT NULL
+  );
+  ```
+3. Build the SQL project to validate the SQL syntax and object references. In the Database Projects view, right-click the database project's root node and select Build.
+4. Building the project created a `.dacpac` file in the output folder. This file contains the schema of the database project and can be deployed to a SQL Server or Azure SQL instance.
 
+📕 Dive in further with this complete tutorial for [creating and deploying a SQL project](https://learn.microsoft.com/sql/tools/sql-database-projects/tutorials/create-deploy-sql-project?pivots=sq1-visual-studio-code).
 
 ![AdventureWorks SQL project](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/microsoft/azuredatastudio/main/extensions/sql-database-projects/images/readme-sqlproj.png)
 
+## Features
+
+- [Develop and validate database objects using T-SQL](https://learn.microsoft.com/sql/tools/sql-database-projects/sql-database-projects#validation)
+- [Start from an existing database to get it in source control](https://learn.microsoft.com/sql/tools/sql-database-projects/tutorials/start-from-existing-database?pivots=sq1-visual-studio-code)
+- [Publish the database objects to a SQL Server or Azure SQL instance](https://learn.microsoft.com/sql/tools/sql-database-projects/sql-database-projects#deployment)
+- [Publish the database objects to a local development container](https://learn.microsoft.com/azure-data-studio/extensions/sql-database-project-extension-build#publish-the-sql-project-and-deploy-to-a-local-container)
+- [Automate generation of deployment scripts and reports](https://learn.microsoft.com/sql/tools/sqlpackage/sqlpackage#deployments)
+- [Update the database project from a database and visualize differences](https://learn.microsoft.com/sql/tools/sql-database-projects/howto/compare-database-project?pivots=sq1-visual-studio-code)
+- [Code analysis for best practices](https://learn.microsoft.com/sql/tools/sql-database-projects/concepts/sql-code-analysis/sql-code-analysis?pivots=sq1-visual-studio-code)
+- [Include custom scripts before and after deployment](https://learn.microsoft.com/sql/tools/sql-database-projects/concepts/pre-post-deployment-scripts?pivots=sq1-visual-studio-code)
+- [Declare deploy-time variables](https://learn.microsoft.com/sql/tools/sql-database-projects/concepts/sqlcmd-variables?pivots=sq1-visual-studio-code)
 
-## Getting Started with Database Projects
+### Preview Features
 
-* Create a new database project by going to the `Database Projects` view or by searching `Database Projects: New` in the command palette.
-* Existing database projects can be opened by going to the `Database Projects` view or by searching `Database Projects: Open existing` in the command palette.
-* Start from an existing database by using `Create Project from Database` from the command palette or database context menu.
-* Start from an OpenAPI/Swagger spec by using the `Generate SQL Project from OpenAPI/Swagger spec` command (Preview).
+- Microsoft.Build.Sql SDK-style projects
+- Generate SQL projects from OpenAPI/Swagger specs
 
 ## Settings
 
 ### General Settings
+
 - `sqlDatabaseProjects.dotnetSDK Location`: The path to the folder containing the `dotnet` folder for the .NET SDK. If not set, the extension will attempt to find the .NET SDK on the system.
 - `sqlDatabaseProjects.microsoftBuildSqlVersion`: Version of Microsoft.Build.Sql binaries used when building SQL projects that are not SDK-style SQL projects. If not set, the extension will use Microsoft.Build.Sql 0.2.5-preview.
 - `sqlDatabaseProjects.netCoreDoNotAsk`: When true, no longer prompts to install .NET SDK when a supported installation is not found.