Teaching the SQL skills that businesses demand when hiring programmers If you're a SQL beginner, you don't just want to learn SQL basics, you also want to get some practical SQL skills you can use in the job market. This book gives you both. Covering the basics through intermediate topics with clear explanations, hands-on exercises, and helpful solutions, this book is the perfect introduction to SQL. Topics include both the current SQL:2008 standards, the upcoming SQL:2011 standards, and also how to use SQL against current releases of the most popular commercial SQL databases, such as Oracle, SQL Server, and MySQL. Introduces SQL concepts, explains SQL statements, and clearly shows how to write efficient and effective SQL code Uses a hands-on style and a sample database that incorporates all SQL concepts taught in the book; this database will be enhanced through the book as key points and lessons are covered Covers topics such as how SQL interacts with the sample database via various interfaces, including vendor-provided utilities, programming languages, SQL clients, and productivity software Includes appendices with primers on database normalization, set theory and bollean algebra, RDBMS software step-by-step setup guides, and database connectivity Learn how to write effective, efficient SQL code with Discovering SQL: A Hands-On Guide for Beginners.

Bill Karwin has helped thousands of people write better SQL and build stronger relational databases. Now he's sharing his collection of antipatterns--the most common errors he's identified in those thousands of requests for help. Most developers aren't SQL experts, and most of the SQL that gets used is inefficient, hard to maintain, and sometimes just plain wrong. This book shows you all the common mistakes, and then leads you through the best fixes. What's more, it shows you what's behind these fixes, so you'll learn a lot about relational databases along the way. Each chapter in this book helps you identify, explain, and correct a unique and dangerous antipattern. The four parts of the book group the anti​patterns in terms of logical database design, physical database design, queries, and application development. The chances are good that your application's database layer already contains problems such as Index Shotgun, Keyless Entry, Fear of the Unknown, and Spaghetti Query. This book will help you and your team find them. Even better, it will also show you how to fix them, and how to avoid these and other problems in the future. SQL Antipatterns gives you a rare glimpse into an SQL expert's playbook. Now you can stamp out these common database errors once and for all. Whatever platform or programming language you use, whether you're a junior programmer or a Ph.D., SQL Antipatterns will show you how to design and build databases, how to write better database queries, and how to integrate SQL programming with your application like an expert. You'll also learn the best and most current technology for full-text search, how to design code that is resistant to SQL injection attacks, and other techniques for success.

For programmers, analysts, and database administrators, SQL in a Nutshell is the essential reference for the SQL language used in today's most popular database products. This new edition clearly documents every SQL command according to the latest ANSI standard, and details how those commands are implemented in Microsoft SQL Server 2008, Oracle 11g, and the MySQL 5.1 and PostgreSQL 8.3 open source database products. You'll also get a concise overview of the Relational Database Management System (RDBMS) model, and a clear-cut explanation of foundational RDBMS concepts -- all packed into a succinct, comprehensive, and easy-to-use format. This book provides: Background on the Relational Database Model, including current and previous SQL standards Fundamental concepts necessary for understanding relational databases and SQL commands An alphabetical command reference to SQL statements, according to the SQL2003 ANSI standard The implementation of each command by MySQL, Oracle, PostgreSQL, and SQL Server An alphabetical reference of the ANSI SQL2003 functions, as well as the vendor implementations Platform-specific functions unique to each implementation Beginning where vendor documentation ends, SQL in a Nutshell distills the experiences of professional database administrators and developers who have used SQL variants to support complex enterprise applications. Whether SQL is new to you, or you've been using SQL since its earliest days, you'll get lots of new tips and techniques in this book.

Anyone who interacts with today's modern databases needs to know SQL (Structured Query Language), the standard language for generating, manipulating, and retrieving database information. In recent years, the dramatic rise in the popularity of relational databases and multi-user databases has fueled a healthy demand for application developers and others who can write SQL code efficiently and correctly. If you're new to databases, or need a SQL refresher, Learning SQL on SQL Server 2005 is an ideal step-by-step introduction to this database query tool, with everything you need for programming SQL using Microsoft's SQL Server 2005-one of the most powerful and popular database engines used today. Plenty of books explain database theory. This guide lets you apply the theory as you learn SQL. You don't need prior database knowledge, or even prior computer knowledge. Based on a popular university-level course designed by authors Sikha Saha Bagui and Richard Walsh Earp, Learning SQL on SQL Server 2005 starts with very simple SQL concepts, and slowly builds into more complex query development. Every topic, concept, and idea comes with examples of code and output, along with exercises to help you gain proficiency in SQL and SQL Server 2005. With this book, you'll learn: Beginning SQL commands, such as how and where to type an SQL query, and how to create, populate, alter and delete tables How to customize SQL Server 2005's settings and about SQL Server 2005's functions About joins, a common database mechanism for combining tables Query development, the use of views and other derived structures, and simple set operations Subqueries, aggregate functions and correlated subqueries, as well as indexes and constraints that can be added to tables in SQL Server 2005 Whether you're an undergraduate computer science or MIS student, a self-learner who has access to the new Microsoft database, or work for your company's IT department, Learning SQL on SQL Server 2005 will get you up to speed on SQL in no time.