May 2006
Intermediate to advanced
462 pages
13h 19m
English
SQL has a very practical exterior but a very theoretical interior. That interior is the relational model. The relational model came before SQL and created a need for SQL. The power of SQL lies not in the language itself but in the concepts set forth in the relational model. These concepts form the basis of SQL's design and operation.
The relational model is a powerful and elegant idea that has pervaded not only computer science but our daily lives as well, whether we know it or not. Like the automobile, or penicillin, it is one of the many great examples of human thought and discovery that has fundamentally impacted the way the world works. The relational model has spawned a billion-dollar industry, and has become ...