Pro Oracle SQL, Second Edition

Pro Oracle SQL, Second Edition

by Karen Morton, Kerry Osborne, Robyn Sands, Riyaj Shamsudeen, Jared Still
Released October 2013
Publisher(s): Apress
ISBN: 9781430262206

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Book description

Pro Oracle SQL, Second Edition unlocks the power of SQL in the Oracle database—one of the most potent SQL implementations on the market today. To master it requires a multi-pronged approach: learn the language features, learn how and why the language features work, learn the supporting features that Oracle provides to help use the language effectively, and learn to think and work in sets.

Karen Morton has updated the content for Oracle version 12c and helps you master powerful aspects of Oracle SQL from the inside-out. You'll learn analytic functions, the MODEL clause, and advanced grouping syntax—features that will help in creating good queries for reporting and business intelligence applications. Pro Oracle SQL, Second Edition also helps you minimize parsing overhead, read execution plans, test for correct results, understand performance management, and exert control over SQL execution in your database. You'll learn when to create indexes, how to verify that they make a difference, how to use SQL Baselines and Profiles to optimize and stabilize SQL execution plans, and much more. You'll also understand how SQL is optimized for working in sets, and that the key to getting accurate results lies in making sure that queries ask clear and precise questions.

Pro Oracle SQL, Second Edition helps you work at a truly professional level in the Oracle dialect of SQL. You'll master the language, the tools to work effectively with the language, and the right way to think about a problem in SQL.

  • Endorsed by the OakTable Network, a group of Oracle technologists well-known for their rigorous and scientific approach to Oracle Database performance

  • Comprehensive—goes beyond the language with a focus on what you need to know to write successful queries and data manipulation statements.

  • Performance focused—teaches you how to measure the performance of your SQL statements and not just the syntax.

    • What you'll learn

  • Master powerful SQL features implemented in the Oracle Database

  • Understand how the Oracle Optimizer develops execution plans

  • Read and interpret SQL execution plans

  • Quickly diagnose and fix badly performing SQL

  • Control execution plans through hints, profiles, and plan baselines

  • Optimize queries within packaged applications without touching the code

  • Recognize when not to waste time on SQL that is performing optimally

    • Who this book is for

    Pro Oracle SQL, Second Edition is aimed at developers and database administrators who submit SQL for execution by an Oracle database. Readers should already know the basic four SQL statements, and be ready to learn deeply about Oracle's specific implementation of the language, including Oracle-specific features and syntax. Readers should also want to learn about Oracle Database features such as analytic queries, the MODEL clause, and the WITH clause (subquery factoring) that are designed to help developers and database administrators exert control over their SQL environment and its execution.

    Table of contents

    1. Title Page
    2. Contents at a Glance
    3. Contents
    4. About the Authors
    5. About the Technical Reviewer
    6. Acknowledgments
    7. CHAPTER 1: Core SQL
      1. The SQL Language
      2. Interfacing to the Database
      3. Review of SQL*Plus
      4. The Five Core SQL Statements
      5. The SELECT Statement
      6. The INSERT Statement
      7. The UPDATE Statement
      8. The DELETE Statement
      9. The MERGE Statement
      10. Summary
    8. CHAPTER 2: SQL Execution
      1. Oracle Architecture Basics
      2. SGA: The Shared Pool
      3. The Library Cache
      4. Identical Statements
      5. SGA: The Buffer Cache
      6. Query Transformation
      7. Determining the Execution Plan
      8. Executing the Plan and Fetching Rows
      9. SQL Execution: Putting It All Together
      10. Summary
    9. CHAPTER 3: Access and Join Methods
      1. Full Scan Access Methods
      2. Index Scan Access Methods
      3. Join Methods
      4. Summary
    10. CHAPTER 4: SQL Is about Sets
      1. Thinking in Sets
      2. Set Operations
      3. Sets and Nulls
      4. Summary
    11. CHAPTER 5: It’s about the Question
      1. Asking Good Questions
      2. The Purpose of Questions
      3. Categories of Questions
      4. Questions about the Question
      5. Questions about Data
      6. Building Logical Expressions
      7. Summary
    12. CHAPTER 6: SQL Execution Plans
      1. Explain Plan
      2. Execution Plans
      3. Summary
    13. CHAPTER 7: Advanced Grouping
      1. Basic GROUP BY Usage
      2. HAVING Clause
      3. “New” GROUP BY Functionality
      4. CUBE Extension to GROUP BY
      5. Putting CUBE to Work
      6. Eliminate NULLs with the GROUPING( ) Function
      7. Extending Reports with GROUPING( )
      8. Extending Reports with GROUPING_ID( )
      9. GROUPING SETS ( ) and ROLLUP( )
      10. GROUP BY Restrictions
      11. Summary
    14. CHAPTER 8: Analytic Functions
      1. Overview
      2. Example Data
      3. Anatomy of Analytic Functions
      4. List of Functions
      5. Aggregation Functions
      6. lead and lag
      7. first_value and last_value
      8. Other Analytic Functions
      9. Performance Tuning
      10. Advanced Topics
      11. Organizational Behavior
      12. Summary
    15. CHAPTER 9: The MODEL Clause
      1. Spreadsheets
      2. Interrow Referencing Via the MODEL Clause
      3. Positional and Symbolic References
      4. Returning Updated Rows
      5. Evaluation Order
      6. Aggregation
      7. Iteration
      8. Lookup Tables
      9. NULLs
      10. Performance Tuning with the MODEL Clause
      11. Subquery Factoring
      12. Summary
    16. CHAPTER 10: Subquery Factoring
      1. Standard Usage
      2. WITH Using a PL/SQL Function
      3. Optimizing SQL
      4. Recursive Subqueries
      5. Duplicating CONNECT BY Functionality
      6. Summary
    17. CHAPTER 11: Semijoins and Antijoins
      1. Semijoins
      2. Semijoin Plans
      3. Controlling Semijoin Plans
      4. Semijoin Restrictions
      5. Semijoin Requirements
      6. Antijoins
      7. Antijoin Plans
      8. Controlling Antijoin Plans
      9. Antijoin Restrictions
      10. Antijoin Requirements
      11. Summary
    18. CHAPTER 12: Indexes
      1. Understanding Indexes
      2. Index Structural Types
      3. Partitioned Indexes
      4. Solutions to Match Application Characteristics
      5. Solutions to Management Problems
      6. Summary
    19. CHAPTER 13: Beyond the SELECT
      1. INSERT
      2. UPDATE
      3. DELETE
      4. MERGE
      5. Summary
    20. CHAPTER 14: Transaction Processing
      1. What Is a Transaction?
      2. ACID Properties of a Transaction
      3. Transaction Isolation Levels
      4. Multiversion Read Consistency
      5. Transaction Control Statements
      6. Grouping Operations into Transactions
      7. The Order Entry Schema
      8. The Active Transaction
      9. Using Savepoints
      10. Serializing Transactions
      11. Isolating Transactions
      12. Autonomous Transactions
      13. Summary
    21. CHAPTER 15: Testing and Quality Assurance
      1. Test Cases
      2. Testing Methods
      3. Execution Plan Comparison
      4. Instrumentation
      5. Testing to Destruction
      6. Troubleshooting through Instrumentation
      7. Summary
    22. CHAPTER 16: Plan Stability
      1. Plan Instability: Understanding the Problem
      2. Statistics Feedback
      3. Identifying Plan Instability
      4. Summary
    23. CHAPTER 17: Plan Control
      1. Plan Control: Solving the Problem
      2. Plan Control: Without Access to the Code
      3. Summary
    24. CHAPTER 18: Miscellaneous SQL Constructs
      1. Conditional Logic Constructs
      2. PIVOT/UNPIVOT Queries
      3. SQL to Generate Test Data
      4. Summary
    25. Index

    Product information

    • Title: Pro Oracle SQL, Second Edition
    • Author(s): Karen Morton, Kerry Osborne, Robyn Sands, Riyaj Shamsudeen, Jared Still
    • Release date: October 2013
    • Publisher(s): Apress
    • ISBN: 9781430262206