Chapter 6: Drilling Down to the SQL Nitty-Gritty
In This Chapter
Executing SQL statements
Using (and misusing) reserved words
Working with SQL’s data types
Handling null values
Applying constraints
In this chapter, I get into the nitty-gritty of SQL. This is knowledge you need to master before you embark on actually writing SQL statements. SQL has some similarities to computer languages you may already be familiar with, and some important differences. I touch on some of these similarities and differences right here in this chapter, but will discuss others later when I get to the appropriate points in a complete discussion of SQL.
Executing SQL Statements
SQL is not a complete language, but a data sublanguage. As such, you cannot write a program in the SQL language like you can with C or Java. That doesn’t mean SQL is useless, though. There are several ways that you can use SQL. Say you have a query editor up on your screen and all you want is the answer to a simple question. Just ...
