Product Description

This is the second edition of the popular practitioner's guide to SQL, the industry-standard database query language. Like most computer languages, SQL can be overwhelming when you first see it, but for years readers have relied on this book to clear the confusion and explain how SQL works and how to use it effectively. Packed with tips, tricks, and good information, SQL Clearly Explained, Second Edition teaches database users and programmers everything they need to know to get their job done including
· formulating SQL queries,
· understanding how queries are processed by the DBMS,
· maximizing performance,
· using SQL to enter, modify, or delete data,
· creating and maintaining database structural elements, and
· embedding SQL in applications.


Features
· Updated and expanded to include changes in the SQL standard (SQL:1999) as well as recently implemented aspects of SQL-92.
· Includes CD with examples from the book as well as MySQL, a popular open-source DBMS, on which the examples are based.
· Web enhanced with extra features available online at www.mkp.com.

* Second edition of classic SQL handbook
* Updated to cover changes in the SQL language standard (SQL:1999)
* Includes CD with MySQL software

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #635731 in Books
• Published on: 2003-05-28
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 400 pages

About the Author

Jan L. Harrington, the author of 30 books, including SQL, Clearly Explained (Academic Press), has been writing about databases since 1984. She is a professor and chair of the department of computer science and information systems at Marist College, where she teaches database design and management, object-oriented programming, data communications, and computer architecture.

Customer Reviews

Excellent Intermediate SQL Book
This is an excellent book on SQL. It begins with the basic syntax of SQL statements such as SELECT, INSERT, UPDATE, and DELETE and then covers more intermediate concepts such as joining, string manipulation, and date/time arithmetic. The most rewarding section was the two chapters on embedded and dynamic SQL. It's hard enough to find a good SQL book that covers embedded SQL at all, and this one explains it so well...from declaring cursors to allocating descriptors to fetching rows. This is a well-rounded, well-written text.

SQL Clearly Explained earns its title.
This is one of the best SQL books I've read (and I've read many) because it explains the set theory concepts that underlie database design. After reading this book I have a much better appreciation for the SQL mechanism and I am much more creative with how I use it.

This book is interesting to read, well presented and extremely useful. I recommend it for any SQL beginner, and for intermediate-level SQL users who would like a fresh angle on database design and function.

The right book to get started in SQL programming
This is the right book for the total SQL newbie. After the intro chapter, the author wastes no time in diving into the difficult topic of data retrieval and spends three well-written chapters on this topic, explaining the operations in a clear and easily understood manner. One big example is used throughout the book, that of an "online" bookstore database. For a SQL (pronounced 'sequel') newbie like me, this book was perfect in its coverage and treatment. Again, the book's clarity is superb.

Two flaws: 1) a number of typos and errors, esp. in the chapters on retrieval, which can confuse the reader; 2) intro to relational database is rather skimpy, IMHO.

But it deserves a five-star rating. Very highly recommended. (I bought this book so I could embed SQL in ASP pages.)