A Guide to the SQL Standard: A User's Guide to the Standard Relational Language SQL

by C.J. Date, Hugh Darwen

This is one of the heaviest manuals in the SQL arena--in both weight and content. It is also one of the most up-to-date SQL books around and one of the few to cover the most recent extensions of SQL, such as the Call-Level Interface (SQL/CLI) and the Persistent Stored Modules feature (SQL/PSM). If you want to go beyond the SQL92 standard, which is covered by most other SQL books, then Date and Darwen's manual is for you. Arguably the most complete SQL guide, A Guide to the SQL Standard contains resources such as a full listing of SQL grammar, which is indispensable in tricky programming situations. The Date and Darwen book does not assume that you are using any particular SQL dialect, so it can be used with any standard SQL database. A beginner who picks up this book first is unlikely to learn much of anything about SQL. But for information about obscure SQL commands or precise definitions of syntax, there is no better place to turn.

Genres: Reference

414 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1989

About the author

Christopher J. Date (born 1941) is an independent author, lecturer, researcher, and consultant, specializing in relational database theory.
—from wikipedia

Reviews

[John · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very technical book, I bought this as it is known as the 'Manual' for using Frontbase and is recommended reading. A full coverage of the SQL 92 Standard at a level that is useful but not easily 'dropped' into.

[Rebecca · Rating 5 out of 5]

That this is how I learned to program in SQL probably says things about me. =p It's not the best place for most people to start, but it *is* an excellent reference. I just wish it'd been updated after SQL '92... =/