Learning SQL

Appendix D. Further Resources

Now that you have finished reading this book, you should be well on your way toward proficiency with the SQL language. Since I decided to be a bit more aggressive with the depth of coverage in this book versus a typical introductory book, your grasp of some of the topics might still be a bit hazy. This is a good thing, since, in my opinion, the purchase of a technical book that requires only a single read is a waste of money. I hope that you will reread certain chapters and continue to experiment with the sample database until you have a solid grasp of the concepts.

The next step to take on your journey depends on your particular goals. After having worked with many people over the years, I would guess that you probably fall into one of the following categories:

• You are a programmer (or are working on a computer science degree) with little or no prior database knowledge, and you either want to broaden your skill set or have been asked to help out with the database aspects of a project.

• You are not a programmer but have been asked to work on a reporting or Business Intelligence project at your company, possibly including the installation and administration of a BI server such as Business Objects, Actuate, Microstrategy, or Cognos.

• You are a systems administrator and want to broaden your scope to include database administration.

• You are a small business owner who needs a database to keep track of customers, inventory, orders, etc., or you are using a packaged ...