SQL Queries for Mere Mortals: A Hands-On Guide to Data Manipulation in SQL, 4th Edition

Introduction

“I presume you’re mortal, and may err.”

—JAMES SHIRLEY, THE LADY OF PLEASURE

If you’ve used a computer more than casually, you have probably used Structured Query Language or SQL—perhaps without even knowing it. SQL is the standard language for communicating with most database systems. Any time you import data into a spreadsheet or perform a merge into a word processing program, you’re most likely using SQL in some form or another. Every time you go online to an e-commerce site on the Web and place an order for a book, a recording, a movie, or any of the dozens of other products you can order, there’s a very high probability that the code behind the web page you’re using is accessing its databases with SQL. If you need to get information ...