Discovering SQL: A Hands-On Guide for Beginners

Discovering SQL: A Hands-On Guide for Beginners

by
Released April 2011
Publisher(s): Wrox
ISBN: 9781118002674

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Book description

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.

Table of contents

  1. Cover Page
  2. Title Page
  3. Copyright
  4. Dedication
  5. ABOUT THE AUTHOR
  6. ABOUT THE TECHNICAL EDITOR
  7. CREDITS
  8. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
  9. DISCOVERING SQL
  10. CONTENTS
  11. INTRODUCTION
    1. WHO THIS BOOK IS FOR
    2. WHAT THIS BOOK COVERS
    3. HOW THIS BOOK IS STRUCTURED
    4. WHAT YOU NEED TO USE THIS BOOK
    5. CONVENTIONS
    6. SUPPORTING WEBSITES AND CODE
    7. ERRATA
    8. P2P.WROX.COM
  12. 1: Drowning in Data, Dying of Thirst for Knowledge
    1. DATA DELUGE AND INFORMATIONAL OVERLOAD
    2. WHAT IS SQL?
    3. LET THERE BE DATABASE!
    4. SUMMARY
  13. 2: Breaking and Entering: Structured Information
    1. A REALLY BRIEF INTRODUCTION TO DATA MODELING
    2. WHY CAN'T EVERYTHING BE TEXT?
    3. IT'S A BIRD, IT'S A PLANE, IT'S … A NULL!
    4. DDL, DML, AND DQL: COMPONENTS OF SQL
    5. REFACTORING DATABASE TABLE
    6. POPULATING A TABLE WITH DIFFERENT DATA TYPES
    7. SELECT STATEMENT REVISITED
    8. INSERT, UPDATE, AND DELETE REVISITED
    9. SQL OPERATORS: AGENTS OF CHANGE
    10. SUMMARY
  14. 3: A Thing You Can Relate To — Designing a Relational Database
    1. ENTITIES AND ATTRIBUTES REVISITED
    2. AM I NORMAL? BASICS OF RELATIONAL DATABASE DESIGN
    3. SUMMARY
  15. 4: Overcoming the Limitations of SQL
    1. IN NUMBERS, STRENGTH
    2. BUILDING CHARACTER
    3. DATE AND TIME FUNCTIONS
    4. A GLIMPSE OF AGGREGATE FUNCTIONS
    5. CONVERSION FUNCTIONS
    6. MISCELLANEOUS FUNCTIONS
    7. MAKING THE CASE
    8. SQL PROCEDURAL EXTENSIONS
    9. SUMMARY
  16. 5: Grouping and Aggregation
    1. AGGREGATE SQL FUNCTIONS REVISITED
    2. ELIMINATING DUPLICATE DATA
    3. GROUP BY: WHERE YOUR DATA BELONGS
    4. SUMMARY
  17. 6: When One Is Not Enough: A Query Within a Query
    1. WHAT YOU DON'T KNOW MIGHT HELP YOU
    2. CORRELATED QUERY
    3. HOW DEEP THE RABBIT HOLE GOES: NESTING SUBQUERIES
    4. A SUBQUERY OR A JOIN?
    5. SUMMARY
  18. 7: You Broke It; You Fix It: Combining Data Sets
    1. JOINS REVISITED
    2. STATE OF THE UNION
    3. A POINT OF VIEW
    4. BUT WAIT; THERE'S MORE!
    5. SUMMARY
  19. 8: What Else Is There, and Why?
    1. AN INDEX FOR ALL SEASONS
    2. TABLE REVISITED
    3. VIEW REVISITED
    4. BY ANY OTHER NAME: ALIASES AND SYNONYMS
    5. AUTO-INCREMENTED VALUES
    6. SEQUENCES
    7. COMPARING IDENTITY COLUMNS AND SEQUENCES
    8. TRIGGERS
    9. ONE HAPPY FAMILY: WORKING IN HETEROGENEOUS ENVIRONMENTS
    10. SUMMARY
  20. 9: Optimizing Performance
    1. DATABASE PERFORMANCE
    2. RDBMS-SPECIFIC OPTIMIZATION
    3. YOUR DBA IS YOUR FRIEND
    4. SUMMARY
  21. 10: Multiuser Environment
    1. SESSIONS
    2. SUMMARY
  22. 11: Working with Unstructured and Semistructured Data
    1. SQL AND XML
    2. A BRIEF INTRODUCTION TO XML
    3. SUMMARY
  23. 12: Not by SQL Alone
    1. THE FUTURE IS CLOUDY
    2. SQL AND BUSINESS INTELLIGENCE
    3. ELEMENTARY, MY DEAR WATSON!
    4. COLUMN-ORIENTED DBMS
    5. OBJECT DATABASES
    6. OBJECT-RELATIONAL MAPPING FRAMEWORKS
    7. SUMMARY
  24. A: Installing the Library Database
    1. ORACLE 10G XE
    2. IBM DB2 9.7 EXPRESS-C
    3. MICROSOFT SQL SERVER 2008 EXPRESS
    4. POSTGRESQL 9.0
    5. MYSQL 5.1
    6. MICROSOFT ACCESS 2007/2010
    7. OPENOFFICE BASE 3.2
  25. B: Installing RDBMSs Software
  26. C: Accessing RDBMSs
    1. ORACLE
    2. IBM DB2
    3. MICROSOFT SQL SERVER 2008
    4. MYSQL
    5. POSTGRESQL
    6. MICROSOFT ACCESS 2007/2010
    7. OPEN OFFICE BASE WITH HSQLDB
  27. D: Accessing RDBMSs with the SQuirreL Universal SQL Client
  28. INDEX

Product information

  • Title: Discovering SQL: A Hands-On Guide for Beginners
  • Author(s):
  • Release date: April 2011
  • Publisher(s): Wrox
  • ISBN: 9781118002674