SQL Database Programming

by Chris Fehily

Read this book for free at sqlrun.com. Perfect for end users, analysts, data scientists, and app developers, this best-selling guide will get you up and running with SQL, the language of databases. You'll find general concepts, practical answers, and clear explanations of what the various SQL statements can do. Hundreds of examples of varied difficulty encourage you to experiment and explore. Full-color SQL code listings help you see the elements and structure of the language. You can download the sample database to follow along with the author's examples.

Covers Oracle, Microsoft SQL Server, IBM DB2, MySQL, PostgreSQL, and Microsoft Access.Learn the core language for standard SQL, and variations for the most widely used database systems.Organize your database in terms of the relational model.Master tables, columns, rows, and keys.Retrieve, sort, and format data.Filter the data that you don't want to see.Convert and manipulate data with SQL's built-in functions and operators.Use aggregate functions to summarize data.Create complex SQL statements by using joins, subqueries, constraints, conditional logic, and metadata.Create, alter, and drop tables, indexes, and views.Insert, update, delete, and merge data.Execute transactions to maintain the integrity of your data.Avoid common pitfalls involving nulls.Troubleshoot and optimize queries.Plenty of tips, tricks, and timesavers.Fully cross-referenced, linked, and searchable.ContentsIntroduction1. Running SQL Programs2. The Relational Model3. SQL Basics4. Retrieving Data from a Table5. Operators and Functions6. Summarizing and Grouping Data7. Joins8. Subqueries9. Set Operations10. Inserting, Updating, and Deleting Rows11. Creating, Altering, and Dropping Tables12. Indexes13. Views14. Transactions

About the AuthorChris Fehily is a statistician and author based in San Francisco.

Genres: Technology, Nonfiction, Programming, Science, Technical, Reference, Computer Science

604 pages, Kindle Edition

First published July 29, 2002

Reviews

[Antonio W · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ok wow nobody is going to care about this review and I promise I'll review an actual book soon (my copy of I Hate Everyone But You just came in the mail!). I got this book because my new job involves more advanced programming than I've done since college, so I wanted to brush up/learn some new stuff and this was recommended as a book for people with intermediate SQL knowledge. But I felt like this was very basic?? Like just simple select queries, creating tables, etc. Not even anything about stored procedures. But I did like that it taught in a way that wasn't specific to any DBMS and I did learn a helpful trick or two.

In conclusion: I'm very smart thank you and goodnight.

[kurp · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nice book covering basics of SQL. May be good choice for quick recap. What I liked are: a lot of examples based on the same simple dataset (which makes them clear and easy to compare) and showing differences between most popular DBMS for each and every functionality described.

[Justin · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book covered a variety of DBMSs, which is mostly a distraction but could be a benefit if you are unsure what DBMS you want to dedicate yourself to for a time and so would like to try a few before making a greater commitment.

It did its job as an introductory book but not all material was accurate according to a more experienced developer I have talked to on it. There was a fair amount of practice material, but not in a very useful format. If the exercises were in a format with a given problem and a defined but separate solution then that would be more practical for learning than simply giving up the answers.

[Charles · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is a lesson in good educational design. It was a perfect match, at least, for the way that I learn. That's high praise for a reference book from 2002, but SQL isn't complicated enough to warrant a step-by-step approach and it was more than enough to show me what's possible, how it's generally done, and how to tailor the SQL statements for different DBMS. There were only a few occasions on which I had to scroll down to the 'fine print' in Microsoft's Access documentation to troubleshoot a statement.

[Jason Emmerson · Rating 2 out of 5]

It's been 4 or 5 years since I've done anything with SQL, so I was hoping to use this to shake off the rust. Related topics seem to be scattered about rather than grouped together, which makes it difficult to go through from start to finish. Its explanations and examples are also fairly wordy, which makes this difficult to use as a reference. I ended up having to rely on an older SQL book and searching the internet for updates to the language to get back up to speed.

[Mohamad Fazeli · Rating 4 out of 5]

It is fairly short but comprehensive introduction to standard SQL, the book has fair amount of examples, that illustrate concepts well enough.
The distinctive feature is compatibility with around 10 most important RDBMSs.

[Kevin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Still use this is a reference book while working, highly recommended if you're kind of slow like me.

[Eric Brooke · Rating 4 out of 5]

A really handy reference and good learning tool.

[amy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hard to get passionate about a textbook but this is easy to read and useful. 4 stars.