By Alan Beaulieu
First Edition
August 2005
Pages: 306
ISBN 10: 0-596-00727-2 |
ISBN 13: 9780596007270
(Average of 5 Customer Reviews)
This introductory guide gets you up and running on SQL in short order. A series of helpful chapter exercises teaches you how to generate, manipulate, and retrieve the data stored in your organization's database. Ideal for anyone writing applications, performing administrative tasks, or generating reports.
Full Description
To help you attain this fundamental SQL knowledge, look to Learning SQL, an introductory guide to SQL, designed primarily for developers just cutting their teeth on the language.
Learning SQL moves you quickly through the basics and then on to some of the more commonly used advanced features. Among the topics discussed:
- The history of the computerized database
- SQL Data Statements--those used to create, manipulate, and retrieve data stored in your database; example statements include select, update, insert, and delete
- SQL Schema Statements--those used to create database objects, such as tables, indexes, and constraints
- How data sets can interact with queries
- The importance of subqueries
- Data conversion and manipulation via SQL's built-in functions
- How conditional logic can be used in Data Statements
Put the power and flexibility of SQL to work. With Learning SQL you can master this important skill and know that the SQL statements you write are indeed correct.
Featured customer reviews
Re: No example data file any more?, March 30 2008
Submitted by Em7add11 [Respond | View]
It's still available under the Examples left on the menu.
http://examples.oreilly.com/learningsql/
No example data file any more?, March 29 2008
Submitted by Willy [Respond | View]
After trying numerous SQL tutorials online and a couple of books, which were all written terribly, from reading the first couple of chapters this appears to be the one which will fill all the holes that the other tutorials left.
But one gripe - where the hell is the example data file learning_sql.sql, which is promised to be on this website? It appears that you've taken it down. Was that really necessary? Considering that you're still selling this book then don't you think that the file should be available? Now I can't play along with the examples and the book is relegated to a "read only" affair. I'm more than a little annoyed at this! Can someone tell me if there's somewhere else I can get at the file?
Great start, February 13 2008
I'm not finished working through this book yet but I am finding it very easy to follow with great examples.
I was not a complete beginner as I had a fairly firm grasp of basic queries but I chose this book to read cover to cover for a more structured learning curve and it's doing just that.
Very very good, December 22 2007
I did not finish to read the book yet, but so far it is very clear and user friendly. I have a good experience with Filemaker DBs but never used sql (or mysql) before. This book is the right one for the absolute beginners !
I have only one question: where can i find the example database (learning_sql.sql) ?
Excellent on many levels, April 24 2007
I am thoroughly enjoying this book. It is very well written, moves well from topic to topic, provides just the right amount of content and examples, and does it in a friendly way free of jargon. It makes SQL seem much less daunting, which is exactly what I want from an introductory book.
Good book if you are planning to learn SQL fast, December 05 2006
The O'Reilly catalogue will have (and it does have) better books on various aspects of SQL and especially MySQL related books. This book is adequate if you want to learn the basics of SQL and have a building tool (like the one RT provides) handy. Good examples although they could have been more real-life are amply spaced throughout the book. What it lacks is the coherence in terms of the topics. Instead of slowly building up SQL skills and then concentrating solely on Tasks, it attempts to teach all of SQL and that dilutes the content a bit.
Nevertheless, good book to have and read if you are stuck with a particularly nasty SQL statement structure.
SQL Beginner ;-), December 28 2005
This book has been good so far...
It has great explanations that are great for beginners like me.
Once I'm done reading and trying out the entire book examples I will write my second opinion.
Media reviews
"I like the way Learning SQL is written. Sure, facts are presented, but the author does a masterful job of telling you how and why those facts exist. In addition, the conversational tone of the book proceeds along the path you'd expect from a real conversation: from the simpler to the more complex, in a logical and sensical path. (Okay, so most conversations don't fall into that category. But this book sure does, so do yourself a favor and buy it!)"
-- Larry Hannay, Amazon.com
"Author Alan Beaulieu, has done an outstanding job of writing a book that will show you how to interact with the data in your database...While this most excellent book demonstrates many of the SQL schema statements, the main focus of this book is on programming features. Filled with example code, you may use some of the code in this book in your programs and documentation. Basically, this book is here to help you get your job done--whatever it may be. "
-- John Vacca, Amazon.com
"Of course this breadth of material wouldn't be worth squat if the writing was unclear or the examples too simplistic. That isn't a problem. The writing is admirably clear and does a good job in getting new concepts across to the reader. The examples are pitched at the right level too, and the book does make excellent use of the MySQL command-line. Each chapter includes exercises, so there's room for the reader to try things out and check his or her answers. In all, this is a solid introduction to SQL, and is highly recommended. "
-- Pan Pantziarka, TechBookReport.com
"Alan Beaulieu, the author of Learning SQL, believes that SQL can be fun, even exhilarating, and that taking a tricky data manipulation or reporting problem and solving it with a single, well written statement is a good thing to learn. So he decided to write a pain-free introduction to SQL for beginners, to gently guide readers to a proficiency in the language. And, I believe, he has done just that."
--Julie Smyth, Cyber Aspect, November 2005
